bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Islamic Patterns as an Allegory for an F-1 Student's Experience in the Context of Global Capitalism: The Aesthetics of Cognitive Mapping as an Approach to Art-Based Research
Authors:   , Shuqair Noura
Published: February 2025

Building on Fredric Jameson's critical theory, this dissertation examines how the aesthetics of cognitive mapping were used to uncover overlooked political, economic, social and cultural dimensions behind my artistic engagement with Islamic patterns. Using a critically informed variant of arts-based research (ABR), I explored the complexity of the interconnected economic, social, political and aesthetic realities informing my positionality as a Muslim Saudi female artist/research completing her dissertation in a Western country. Particularly, my work revealed how certain global forces (including capitalist relations between Saudi Arabia and the USA, as well as global postmodern cultural influences) shape the processes of appropriation and re-signification of patterning appropriated from Islamic aesthetics. This research culminated in a body of artwork for a solo exhibition at Paul Voertman's Gallery at the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas located in Denton, Texas. I conclude the study with recommendations for a regional ABR to be developed by educators for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The study also suggests that this model of cognitive mapping as a critical art making methodology would be a great pedagogical tool for museums and art education curriculum to implement in Saudi Arabia.
Supportive Conditions for the Successful Development of Ninth-Grade Centers
Authors:   , Hunt Bradley Allen
Published: February 2025

The transition from middle school to high school can be challenging for some students. Many school districts are implementing practices to ease the transition to high school. The current study examined one school district's practices and procedures for the development and implementation of a ninth-grade center. In this study, I examined the perceptions of 12 participants (teachers, counselors, and campus and district administrators) in a suburban Texas school district with a ninth-grade center. Using a qualitative descriptive case study methodology, data were collected and analyzed from face-to-face in-depth interviews and a focus group. The findings revealed an overall positive view of ninth-grade centers and a generally favorable impression of separating ninth graders from the remainder of the high school student body, to focus specifically on ninth graders' unique and individual needs. There were some identified concerns related to communication and logistical issues between the ninth-grade center and the main high school campus. From participant feedback, effective campus leadership, providing engaging and ongoing professional learning, having a separate facility, and creating a sense of team through building strong relationships are the specific top four elements that are most effective in developing a ninth-grade center. While this study provides a practical set of recommendations for school districts to guide the development and implementation of a ninth-grade center, expanded research is necessary to confirm the long-range impact on student achievement.
Determining Event Outcomes from Social Media
Authors:   , Murugan Srikala
Published: February 2025

An event is something that happens at a time and location. Events include major life events such as graduating college or getting married, and also simple day-to-day activities such as commuting to work or eating lunch. Most work on event extraction detects events and the entities involved in events. For example, cooking events will usually involve a cook, some utensils and appliances, and a final product. In this work, we target the task of determining whether events result in their expected outcomes. Specifically, we target cooking and baking events, and characterize event outcomes into two categories. First, we distinguish whether something edible resulted from the event. Second, if something edible resulted, we distinguish between perfect, partial and alternative outcomes. The main contributions of this thesis are a corpus of 4,000 tweets annotated with event outcome information and experimental results showing that the task can be automated. The corpus includes tweets that have only text as well as tweets that have text and an image.
Orca Recovery by Changing Cultural Attitudes (ORCCA): How Anthropocentrism and Capitalism Led to an Endangered Species in Puget Sound
Authors:   , Jandick Brittany
Published: February 2025

Ways of understanding, living, and communicating with non-human species, and more specifically endangered species, have been thought of dualistically and hierarchically in Western cultures. This type of thinking is harmful when examining environmental issues that involve more than just humans, which is arguably all environmental issues. By enforcing a nature/culture dichotomy, humans are seen as separate from nature and therefore they can ethically excuse themselves from dealing with environmental issues that happen "out there" in nature. This thesis explores two manifestations of this nature/culture separation as it continues to threaten wild orca populations in Puget Sound. The first is because of an anthropocentric culture and the second is because of the capitalist socio-economic system. The anthropocentric part of this type of thinking raises humans up on a pedestal, above all non-human species. It gives humans the excuse to only care about issues that affect them directly. The capitalistic part of this type of thinking enforces human's exploitation and commodification of nature. I argue that anthropocentrism and capitalism together create a human/nature relationship that harms nature and benefits humans. This relationship is illustrated by a small population of orcas, called the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), off the coast of Washington State that are endangered because of human interference. Lack of prey, toxic water pollution, and excessive noise from boats caused them to become endangered, and these issues are produced by Western society's anthropocentric attitudes and capitalistic systems. The SRKW's will go extinct if the environmental destruction of Puget Sound doesn't end and it will only end if the anthropocentric attitudes and capitalistic systems are dismantled.
Encouraging Tolerance of and Cooperation with Dental/Medical Routines
Authors:   , Rawlings Jordan
Published: February 2025

The participant is a 61-year-old woman, diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder and profound intellectual disability who was referred to a behavior-disorders clinic, to increase cooperation with routine dental procedures. I used a behavioral treatment package consisting of stimulus fading, differential reinforcement, and extinction to establish tolerance of, and cooperation with, routine dental procedures. Results showed that cooperative responding varied throughout the progression of teaching the prerequisite steps (sitting in a chair, sitting in a variety of chairs, then working on sitting in the dental chair). However, by the end of the study, the participant engaged in the behavior of open mouth for 30 s and tolerated/cooperated with the experimenter using a plastic visual inspection tool for 30 s. Further research should evaluate the effectiveness of a similar treatment package to develop a more streamlined and systematic framework to improve compliance and tolerance.
Using Diagnostic Decision Support Systems to Reduce Diagnostic Error: A Survey of Critical Care Physicians
Authors:   , Jones Elizabeth Susann
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of decisions support systems (DSS) by critical care physicians and to address the following questions: Does the use of a decision support system during diagnosis reduce diagnostic error and how are decision support systems used by critical care physicians? There are no studies that address these research questions in a clinical setting. The information assessment method (IAM) was used to guide the development of the survey questions. Critical care physicians from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center were surveyed. Chi squared test for independence was used to determine the relationship between DSS use and diagnostic error rates. There were three main findings of the study: (1) use of a DSS by a critical care physician can decrease diagnostic error by up to 60%; (2) 56% of critical care physicians are using a DSS during diagnosis to learn something new, confirm something they already knew, and/or to reassure themselves; and (3) the increased use of a DSS by critical care physicians can lead to a decrease in the belief of the ability of a DSS to reduce diagnostic error.
Analysis of Interrelationships between Climate Change and Cotton Yield in Texas High Plains
Authors:   , Sarbeng Lorenda
Published: February 2025

The Texas High Plains produces the most substantial amount of cotton in Texas. The region is a semi-arid area with limited precipitation, and it is, therefore, susceptible to climate change. Cotton production in the Texas High Plains is mostly dependent on irrigation to increase yield. The overall goal of this research was to study the interrelationships between climate change and cotton yield using correlation analysis and also to study how climate has changed in the region using trend analysis. A three-decade data (1987-2017) was analyzed to establish the relationship between climate change and cotton and also to determine how climate has changed in the area over the last 30 years. The research used precipitation and temperature data to assess climate change.The results of this research showed that annual mean temperature has lesser impacts on cotton yield, and the correlation between annual precipitation and cotton yield is insignificant. It also found out that high rates of temperature at the boll opening stage of cotton growth results in decreased cotton yield and that at the boll development and boll opening stages, precipitation is needed. Again, the research indicated that, on average, there had been a significant increase in temperature, but precipitation trends are insignificant. About 60% of cotton acreage in the area is irrigated. Therefore the research also found out that increasing trends of cotton yield may contribute to the decline of groundwater in the area.
Structural, Thermal, and Corrosion Properties of a Cold-Formed Steel Rigid Wall Relocatable Shelter
Authors:   , Rowen Alexander David
Published: February 2025

A prototype rigid wall relocatable shelter was designed and constructed using cold-formed steel (CFS) construction techniques including shear walls with corrugated sheathings. The design of the shelter was to be mechanically sound with adequate thermal performance and resistance to corrosion. Modeling of structural shear walls was performed using ABAQUS and verified with experimental results. At the project's conclusion, a completed full-scale prototype shelter was constructed.
The Effect of Welfare Benefit Levels on Female Headship in the AFDC and TANF Eras
Authors:   , Degreve Thomas Evan
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study is to revisit the question of whether welfare benefit levels influence female headship, and whether the effect differs between the two main eras of welfare policy relevant to female headship, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). This study adds to the existing literature by including more up to date data allowing for a comparison between the AFDC and TANF eras. Results show that the effect of welfare benefits on female headship rates changes from negative to positive after welfare reform occurred among blacks, while no change occured among whites.
Effect of Barrier Height on Magnitude and Character of Hurricane Harvey Washover Fans, Matagorda Peninsula, Texas
Authors:   , Rains Bradley Jacob
Published: February 2025

This study uses topographic profiles, washover fan volumes, and shoreline retreat rates to explore relationships between barrier types and Hurricane Harvey storm washover sedimentation. Pre- and post-Hurricane Harvey topographic profiles were created on 15 transects using Bare Earth LiDAR (2016) and surveyed elevations (2019). Depth and area of washover fan measurements were collected to estimate washover fan volumes. An inverse relationship was found between washover fan volume and pre- and post-storm barrier heights. Based on the topographic profiles, one section of shoreline had a scarp up to 3m high which blocked overwash, but appears to have increased shoreline erosion. In contrast, a low-lying section of shoreline generated relatively large washover fans, but experienced less shoreline retreat. Shoreline retreat was further quantified between 2014 and 2019 using Google Earth Imagery from 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019 to track migration of the shoreline. The entire shoreline in the study area is undergoing relatively rapid retreat, but the results suggest that Hurricane Harvey increased erosional rates. The Colorado River Jetty borders the study area and may have acted as an anthropogenic barrier, likely reducing storm surge energy and contributing to marsh aggradation on transects in its close proximity. The study findings indicate that the identification and incorporation of other variables that influence washover magnitude would further the understanding of this complex natural system. The research results provide valuable information on the interaction of hurricane storm surge with natural and anthropogenic barriers, beach and dune erosion, and marsh aggradation along the coast of Texas.
A Performance Guide to Cécile Chaminade's "Concertstück for Piano and Orchestra," Op. 40
Authors:   , Zhuang Yuan
Published: February 2025

Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) was a remarkably successful French composer and pianist for a woman in the early part of her career, although her reputation waned rapidly after her death. Concertstück (1888), a single movement for piano and orchestra, was her only work in this medium. It requires many traditional piano skills and therefore can serve admirably as a comprehensive technical and artistic study. This dissertation includes a formal analysis of this piece, a discussion of each type of specific piano technique it requires, and practice suggestions.
Augmented Reality Intentions in Social Networking and Retail Apps
Authors:   , David Alsius
Published: February 2025

This dissertation contributes to IS research by explaining user intentions while using AR features in mobile social networking and retail app contexts. It consists of three essays, which use partial least squares modeling to analyze different consumer behavior models. The first essay examines the influence of quality, human, and environmental factors on AR reuse intention in a mobile social networking context. The second essay introduces position relevance, a new construct essential to AR research in e-commerce, and it looks at the influence of this construct and app involvement on user purchase intention, while using view-in-room features on mobile retail apps. The third essay examines the influence of service quality and visual quality on recommendation intention of mobile retail apps while using view-in-room features compared to shopping without using these AR features.
A Case Study Assessing Performance Differences between Economically Impacted African American and White Students in High School Algebra II Classes in the Tucson Unified School District
Authors:   , Baker Bennie W
Published: February 2025

This case study investigated the phenomenon of the black white test score gap by seeking to determine if there was a difference in the academic performance of African American students and their White peers. The determination of student academic performance was made using scores from second semester Algebra II classes at two high schools in the Tucson Unified School District. The data covered three academic years and was analyzed via SPSS (independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and a pairwise analysis) and content analysis for qualitative analysis. Findings revealed that there was no variance in the scores of African Americans and their White peers attending an affluent school; however African Americans attending a low-income school scored lower than all groups that were compared in this study.
Measuring College Readiness: Developing a System of On-Track and Off-Track Metrics for Texas High School Students
Authors:   , Saenz David Pael
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study was to analyze and determine the predictive power of individual and a combination of different indicators that are used to determine college readiness. For this study a logistic regression analysis was conducted due to the dichotomous nature of the dependent variable. The dependent variable for the study was the earning of a post-secondary credential. The independent variables included high school diploma type, Advanced Placement course taken, Advanced Placement test performance, SAT performance, ACT performance, a multidimensional index made up of all the variables, and high school GPA. The study found that high school GPA had the strongest odds ratio, Exp(B), for the participants earning a post-secondary credential (Exp(B) = 6.597), followed by diploma type (Exp(B) = 6.316), taking an Advanced Placement course (Exp(B) = 4.368), earning at least one qualifying Advanced Placement test score (Exp(B) = 3.846), a multidimensional index (Exp(B) = 2.318), ACT score (Exp(B) = 1.161) and SAT score (Exp(B) = 1.003). Future analysis is needed by using live data of student's college performance, stratifying the data to account for differences in post-secondary performance by different racial and socio-economic groups, and studying the effects of the State of Texas' chosen college readiness variables.
Frameworks for Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) Policy Engineering
Authors:   , Alohaly Manar
Published: February 2025

In this disseration we propose semi-automated top-down policy engineering approaches for attribute-based access control (ABAC) development. Further, we propose a hybrid ABAC policy engineering approach to combine the benefits and address the shortcomings of both top-down and bottom-up approaches. In particular, we propose three frameworks: (i) ABAC attributes extraction, (ii) ABAC constraints extraction, and (iii) hybrid ABAC policy engineering. Attributes extraction framework comprises of five modules that operate together to extract attributes values from natural language access control policies (NLACPs); map the extracted values to attribute keys; and assign each key-value pair to an appropriate entity. For ABAC constraints extraction framework, we design a two-phase process to extract ABAC constraints from NLACPs. The process begins with the identification phase which focuses on identifying the right boundary of constraint expressions. Next is the normalization phase, that aims at extracting the actual elements that pose a constraint. On the other hand, our hybrid ABAC policy engineering framework consists of 5 modules. This framework combines top-down and bottom-up policy engineering techniques to overcome the shortcomings of both approaches and to generate policies that are more intuitive and relevant to actual organization policies. With this, we believe that our work takes essential steps towards a semi-automated ABAC policy development experience.
The Eclectic Combination of Neo-Baroque and Klezmer Elements in Paul Schoenfeld's Partita for Violin and Piano
Authors:   , Park Seo Yoean Hong
Published: February 2025

Paul Schoenfeld (b. 1947) is considered one of the major American composers of the present day to have incorporated many different styles in his music. Although Schoenfeld primarily uses a combination of folk, popular music, klezmer, and jazz in most of his compositions, he has also incorporated other distinctive musical styles in his works, such as neo-Baroque, particularly in his Partita for Violin and Piano (2002). The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the eclectic combination of neo-Baroque and klezmer elements found in Schoenfeld's Partita. This research provides a detailed comparative analysis of his work with Johann Sebastian Bach's Clavier-Übung I, BWV 825–830, and 6 Sei Solo a Violino senza Basso accompagnato, BWV 1001–1006, primarily to see how Schoenfeld made use of Baroque forms, imitative passages, rhythms, and other stylistic features, then fused them with klezmer elements. Klezmer is a genre of music stemming from the Eastern European Jewish tradition; its distinctive characteristics are modal scales and Hasidic vocal ornaments. Knowing the mixture of Baroque and klezmer stylistic influences should help performers to interpret the piece.
Three Essays on Employee's Personal Resource Allocation Decisions in Work and Life
Authors:   , Guo Wenjuan
Published: February 2025

Due to changes in workforce structure, household structure and the nature of jobs, today's working adults face the challenge of balancing their work and life. However, employees do not only passively react to the incompatible demands from work and life - they are active agents who make decisions about their own total life. For example, individuals make decisions about the amount of energy that they spend on work/life (WL) activities. Thus, I write three essays to understand the antecedents and consequences of employees' personal resource allocation decisions. In the first essay, I study the decision itself. That is, I identify and examine four profiles of employees' WL behavioral involvement. The studied behaviors include job behavioral involvement, organizational citizenship behavior, and life involvement. In Essay 2, I examine the antecedent of the behavioral involvement decisions – WL value, which is expressed as centrality, importance, and priority. Although an individual's behavior is argued to be directed by value, it cannot be fully understood without considering the context. Thus, I examine the influences of three external factors, including financial pressure, job demands, and perceived organizational supportive culture, on the value-behavioral involvement relationship. In Essay 3, I focus on the consequences of individuals being involved in different combinations of WL behaviors. Based on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, I argue that individuals who allocate a great amount of resources to life are more likely to utilize WL benefits offered by the organization. Furthermore, understanding work-life balance (WLB) as a psychological construct, I argue that when an individual's behavioral involvement is consistent with their WL value, he or she is more likely to experience satisfaction with regards to his or her WLB.
Heat Transfer Analysis of a Small Thermochemical Reactor for Hydrogen Production from Ammonia
Authors:   , Owusu-Ansah Nana
Published: February 2025

Several types of research are ongoing throughout the world, to discover economical and reliable techniques to create hydrogen, and propagate the vision of a hydrogen economy. This research examines a COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4 heat transfer model for a hydrogen production system consisting of a retort with two different heat sources, namely a heat tape and an infrared (IR) lamp. The main objective was to compare the two heat sources and find out which one offers a better technique for producing hydrogen by raising the internal center core temperature of the retort from ambient to the highest temperature, preferably 700℃, within the shortest time possible and using less power consumption in attaining the targeted temperature. Through this study, it was established that the IR lamp could potentially help with energy savings by using just 4 kWh to reach the targeted temperature within an hour.
Who Makes the Decision? Managerial Influence on Corporate Boards and Auditor Selection, Change, and Compensation
Authors:   , Hightower Sonja
Published: February 2025

This dissertation examines whether managers influence corporate boards of directors in their auditor selection, change, and compensation decisions. This topic is important because it addresses concerns that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is not effective in eliminating managerial influence over auditor engagement decisions and that it may provide a false sense of security to investors. These concerns are based on the implicit assumption that managers prefer weaker governance oversight and lower audit quality. However, empirical research testing associations between managerial influence and audit-related decisions post-SOX is scarce and generally guided by agency theory. Incorporating agency, stewardship, and resource dependence perspectives, I find that managerial preferences for auditor selection are not aligned. Specifically, CEOs positively influence the selection of higher quality auditors, whereas CFOs have the opposite effect. Further, CEOs who hold powerful roles as chairs of their companies' boards of directors appear to mitigate the negative influence of CFOs and inside directors on audit quality. CEOs serving in dual roles also oppose auditor turnover when lower earnings quality prompt higher demand for audit effort. Finally, my study provides some evidence that management exercises downward pressures on audit fees, suggesting that managers utilize their authority beyond the regulations established by SOX to negotiate auditor compensation.
Embodied Acts of Resistance: Portraits of Urban Breastfeeding Mothers
Authors:   , Veselka-Bush Alexandra V.
Published: February 2025

This dissertation examines how breastfeeding mothers develop distinct geographies due to the stigma, symbolic and structural violence they encounter while breastfeeding if different spaces. I utilize multiple in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observation and photo elicitation to develop portraits of four urban mothers. My findings highlight the complexity of motherhood and demonstrate how distinct socio-spatial power dynamics situate and contextualize the experiences of breastfeeding mothers. I find that breastfeeding behaviors are influenced and maintained by broader social inequalities related to their social positions. Mothers seem caught in a paradoxical position, in which they must constantly discipline their bodies to maintain modesty while simultaneously ensuring their continued success breastfeeding. These issues are compounded by a mother's intersecting identities and their own social and cultural contexts.
Eagles Overhead: The History of US Air Force Airborne Forward Air Controllers, from the Muese-Argonne to Mosul
Authors:   , Dietz J. Matthew
Published: February 2025

Eagles Overhead provides a critical history of US Air Force Forward Air Controllers and examines their role, status, and performance in the Air Force's history. It begins by examining the US's initial adoption of air power, and American participation in aerial combat during World War I and traces the FACs' contributions to every US Air Force air campaign from the Marne in 1918 to Mosul in 2017. However, since 2001 FACs' contributions have been sporadic. Eagles Overhead asks why, despite the critical importance of FACs, have they not been heavily used on US battlefields since 2001? It examines the Air Force FAC's theoretical, doctrinal, institutional, and historical frameworks in the first nine chapters to assess if the nature of air warfare has changed so significantly that the concept and utility of the FAC has been left behind. Or, has the FAC been neglected since 2001 because the Air Force dislikes the capability as it clouds the service's doctrinal preferences? From these examinations, Eagles Overhead draws conclusions about the potential future of Air Force FACs.
The Relationship of Sport Type to Disordered Eating Correlates among Collegiate Male Athletes
Authors:   , Cusack Kaleb W.
Published: February 2025

Petrie and Greenleaf's sociocultural model proposes that athletes experience unique sport environment pressures regarding weight, body size/shape, eating and appearance that increases their risk of developing disordered eating (DE) attitudes and behaviors. Although research in cross-correlational studies has looked at prevalence of eating disorders (ED) and DE behaviors in different sport types, such pressures are likely to vary by sport depending on its unique environment and performance demands. For instance, female athletes in leanness sports experience more body dissatisfaction and societal appearance pressures compared to those in nonleanness sports. Because these effects have been established primarily with female athletes, I examined ED/DE correlates from Petrie and Greenleaf's model with 695 collegiate male athletes who represented five sport types (endurance, ball game, power, technical, weight-dependent) based on a well-established categorization system. Through a series of one-way MANCOVAs (BMI serving as the covariate), I found that sport types were significantly different from each other on all ED/DE correlates except for negative affect. Follow-up analysis revealed that power, endurance, and weight-dependent athletes showed the greatest number of significantly different group centroids, demonstrating distinct profiles among the sport types in their experiences of the ED/DE correlates. Discussion focuses on possible explanations for the research findings, future directions, and clinical implications.
Acute Endocrine Responses to Rest Redistribution with Heavier Loads in Resistance-Trained Men
Authors:   , Chae Sungwon
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this study was to investigate endocrine responses to redistribution with heavier loads (RR+L) during back squat (BS) exercise in resistance-trained men. Ten men (mean±SE; 23±2 years, 175.6±2.0 cm, 78.0±3.4 kg, 4±1 training years) were assigned using randomization to either RR+L (4 sets of (2×5 repetitions) of BS with 30 s intra-set and 90 s inter-set rest using 75% of their 1RM) or traditional sets (TS; 4 sets of 10 repetitions of BS with 120 s inter-set rest using 70% of their 1RM). Fasted blood samples were collected pre-exercise (PRE), immediately post-exercise (IP), and 5 (+5), 15 (+15), and 30 (+30) minutes post-exercise to analyze the concentrations of testosterone (T), growth hormone (GH), cortisol (C), and blood lactate (BL). Two-way ANOVAs with repeated measures were used (p≤0.05). A main effect of condition (p=0.023) was observed for BL (RR+L; 5.9±0.5 vs TS; 6.7±0.4 mmol/L). A main effect of time point (p≤0.001) was observed for T, GH, C, and BL. T was greater at IP (8.8±1.1), +5 (9.0±1.1), +15 (8.5±1.0), and +30 (8.0±1.0) than PRE (7.1±0.8 ng/mL). GH was greater at IP (58.3±12.7), +5 (62.8±12.7), +15 (67.9±13.3), and +30 (52.8±11.2) than PRE (3.6±1.6 µIU/mL). C was greater at +15 (25.5±2.9) and +30 (25.6±2.7) than PRE (20.0±2.7 µg/dL). BL was greater at IP (8.6±0.6), +5 (8.2±0.6), +15 (7.4±0.5), and +30 (5.8±0.5) than PRE (1.4±0.2 mmol/L). RR+L resulted in lower BL but no differences in T, GH, and C responses compared to TS. Thus, practitioners may incorporate RR+L without affecting endocrine responses.
Cultivating Liberation: The Effects of Collective Shaping on Context and Power Dynamics within Social Justice Narratives
Authors:   , Morris Gabrielle N.
Published: February 2025

Social issues are becoming increasingly apparent. More people are experiencing the impact of social issues directly and through their media consumption. It is important to understand and reflect on our collective impact on the media and how the media affects the collective. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a collaborative workshop (collective shaping) and a verbal community that examined media depictions of social justice and injustice related to context and power dynamics. The effects of the workshop were evaluated using an A-B design with multiple probe measures across three participants. During the pre-, probe, and post-training assessments, participants watched videos and responded to a written prompt. Results of the study suggest that written responses were not adequately trained during the workshop. However, anecdotally, participant's verbal responding shifted drastically during the training workshop. The results are discussed within the context of the training apparatus, effects the workshop had on the participants and researchers, and progression forward.
Fanfare and Pastoral Topics in Mozart's Così fan tutte
Authors:   , Vagts Andrew
Published: February 2025

This dissertation explores the use of topics for dramatic purposes in Mozart's Così fan tutte. The five analytical chapters are organized around a central question: how do pastoral and fanfare topics shape the plot of Così fan tutte? Chapter 2 highlights the role topics and tropes play in emplacing and nuancing emergent meaning in the Così fan tutte motto. Chapter 3 examines transformative topical tropes in "Ah guarda, sorella." Chapter 4 shows how the horn fifths and fanfare topics in "Per pietà, ben mio" frame Fiordiligi's choice: the Albanian or Guglielmo. Chapter 5 illustrates the relationship between fanfare topics and galant recitative schemas to articulate formal boundaries between accompanied recitatives and arias. The expectations of closure emplaced by the examples from Così fan tutte nuance a reading of "Hai già vinta la causa!" from Le nozze di Figaro. Chapter 6 discusses the role of recitative intrusions and their articulation of the Count's unrest in "Vedrò mentre io sospiro." Detailed analyses and close readings of the topics and tropes in this dissertation drawn from throughout Così fan tutte showcase Mozart's rich deployment of topics in varied musical and dramatic roles.
Investigating the Effects of Vicarious Racial Trauma Among College Students
Authors:   , Latimer Kyjeila
Published: February 2025

Racial trauma is linked to issues such as psychological distress, lower well-being, anxiety, and depression. The present research investigated some of the potential effects of viewing overt instances of racially violent media on trauma and, in general, on the psychological well-being of individuals. Specifically, the present study utilized physiological and psychological measures to explore how different racial groups on college campuses are impacted by exposure to vicariously traumatizing stimuli when the victim is either an in-group or an out-group member. The present study posited that higher ethnic-racial identity can serve as a buffer to the deleterious effects of racial trauma. In addition, this study explored the role that ethnic-racial identity of the perceiver plays in this relationship. Findings indicate that Black students exhibited the greatest level of emotional arousal in response to both the neutral and negative video depicting a police officer. Black students were also more likely to watch or be exposed to vicarious, racially traumatizing content. Additionally, greater ethnic-racial salience was associated with increased physiological response to both neutral and negative, video content depicting police officers.
Exploring the Impact of Decentralization of Decision Making and Complexity on Supply Chain Resilience
Authors:   , Adana Saban
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this three-essay dissertation is to synthesize and extend the effects of decentralization in decision-making and supply chain complexity in the context of supply chain resilience (SCRES).First essay contributes to theory and practice by expanding resilience thinking into including supply chain orientation and organizational structure and their implications and also responds to prior research arguing for the importance of identifying organizational factors that improve supply chain resilience. Second essay contributes to the supply chain organizational structure and SCRES literature by not just providing empirical support for decentralization of decision making in times of disruptions but more precisely by showing the factors that either impede or facilitate decentralization at the organizational level. Understanding the interplay among these factors is critical to explaining the lack of success for decentralization in the context of SCRES. Third essay contributes to practice by reviewing some of the major complexity drivers present in the supply chains and providing strategies along with a four-step process that practitioners can use to manage complexity.
Modeling and Analysis of Prototype Shelter Structure on Abaqus
Authors:   , Rao Noraiz
Published: February 2025

Due to the constraint of high costs and limitations of load conditions, experimental testing is not appropriate for the static study of shelter structures. Comparatively, an effective computational modeling and numerical solution demonstrates significant advantages for understanding the response of steel shelter structures. This study gives an insight into the structural integrity of the prototype shelter structure which is examined using computer simulation of the shelter structure on Abaqus/CAE 2019. The results of the computer modelling demonstrate the response of shelter structure under ten different loading conditions as per ISO 1496:2013 (E). The loading conditions are applied to various components of the shelter structure and corresponding deflection are observed.
Borrowing Culture: British Music Circulating Libraries and Domestic Musical Practice, 1853-1910
Authors:   , Cooper Amy Nicole
Published: February 2025

In Victorian Britain, music circulating libraries libraries operated by music publishers Novello & Co. and Augener & Co. supported upper- and upper-middle-class patrons in their pursuit of cultural capital that would help them perform their socioeconomic status. Studying these libraries in the context of domestic music-making reveals the economic and social impact of these libraries in the lives of amateur musicians and in the music publishing industry. An analysis of the account books in the Novello Business Archives demonstrates that the direct income that Novello & Co., Ltd.'s Universal Circulating Musical Library generated was negligible at best. Yet the fact that the library continued to be part of the business for over forty years indicates that Novello & Co., Ltd. found it to be profitable in some way. In this case, the library could have helped the publisher to attract customers through branding and advertising, in addition to informing publishing decisions by tracking demand. Catalogs for music circulating libraries, as well as for the publishers who owned them, contain lists of library and publisher inventory and pricing. Studying changes in these catalogs reveals how patrons' tastes changed over time. A case study of violin-piano duets in multiple catalogs confirms a continued preference for continental composers over British composers, and another case study of violin-piano duets by Felix Mendelssohn shows a growing taste for arrangements of pieces originally composed for large ensemble. Changing tastes had an effect not only on what music Victorians performed, but also on what pieces publishers offered, and, ultimately, on works' places in the canon.
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination: Relationship to Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease
Authors:   , Yanouri Lamia
Published: February 2025

The current project used data from the Health & Retirement Study (HRS) 2016 wave and assesses the relationship between everyday racial/ethnic discrimination and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The role of acculturation and social support on this relationship was also considered. The sample size consisted of 3,994 non-Hispanic White, 1,140 non-Hispanic Black, and 842 Hispanic older adults. The results suggest that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals endorse higher perceived everyday racial/ethnic discrimination (p < .001) in comparison to non-Hispanic White individuals. Additionally, non-Hispanic Black adults have higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings (p < .001) than non-Hispanic White and Hispanic adults. Support for the direct and moderating role of certain aspects of social support and acculturation on health outcomes/behaviors related to cardiovascular disease risk among non-Hispanic Black (R2 = .07, F(15, 415) = 2.06, p= .011) and Hispanic (R2 = .30, F(5, 34) = 2.97, p = .025) older adults, respectively, were found. The limitations and clinical implications of the study are further discussed.
The Role of Eigenvalues of Parity Check Matrix in Low-Density Parity Check Codes
Authors:   , Adhikari Dikshya
Published: February 2025

The new developments in coding theory research have revolutionized the application of coding to practical systems. Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes form a class of Shannon limit approaching codes opted for digital communication systems that require high reliability. This thesis investigates the underlying relationship between the spectral properties of the parity check matrix and LDPC decoding convergence. The bit error rate of an LDPC code is plotted for the parity check matrix that has different Second Smallest Eigenvalue Modulus (SSEM) of its corresponding Laplacian matrix. It is found that for a given (n,k) LDPC code, large SSEM has better error floor performance than low SSEM. The value of SSEM decreases as the sparseness in a parity-check matrix is increased. It was also found from the simulation that long LDPC codes have better error floor performance than short codes. This thesis outlines an approach to analyze LDPC decoding based on the eigenvalue analysis of the corresponding parity check matrix.
"In the Near Future": Decolonial Perspectives on Subjectivity in Her and Ex Machina
Authors:   , Brooks-Hall Leah
Published: February 2025

The rapid and radical integration of artificially intelligent (non)human beings into public and private life has reshaped humans' everyday interactions in varied spaces, from the medical examination room to the bedroom. I contend that it is humanity's charge to agitate an onto-epistemological shift toward a post-anthropocentric future grounded in existential equality between all beings. A shift toward better ways of being and knowing is accomplished through a new materialist and decolonial intervention in (non)human subjectivities which require that humans commit to: 1) divest from western-rational discourses binding agency and intimacy to the corporeal body and 2) (re)locate intimacy in the (in)corporeal communion of the soul and spirit to establish harmonious techno-human affinities. I submit Her and Ex Machina, science fiction films and cultural artifacts, as case studies depicting decolonial futures which create discursive space to interrogate western-rational onto-epistemologies, critique colonial hegemonies, and (re)define subjectivity to include all thinking, feeling beings.
A Combined Theoretical and Experimental Study on Deposition of Solid State Materials
Authors:   , Lee Veronica
Published: February 2025

Deposition of solid state materials span a wide variety of methods and often utilize high energy sources such as plasmas and ultra-violet light resulting in a wide variety of characteristics and applications. A fundamental understanding is essential for furthering the applications of these materials which include catalysis, molecular filtration, electronics, sensing devices, and energy storage among others. A combination of experimental and theoretical work is presented here on several materials including 2D silicates on Pd, boron oxide, and vanadium oxynitride. Silicate formation under low energy electron microscopy demonstrate film permeability to oxygen, while ab initio molecular dynamics simulations reveal the possible initial mechanisms associated with the formation of boron oxide films during atomic layer deposition. Lastly, vanadium oxynitrides have shown preferential sputtering of N over O sites and theoretical binding energies serve as a guide for assigning experimental x-ray photoelectron spectra.
Athletic Participation as a Protective Factor for Childhood Maltreatment
Authors:   , Rushton James R
Published: February 2025

The purpose of the study was to examine whether athletic participation as a child and/or adolescent acts as a protective factor for youth who endure childhood maltreatment. After screening for childhood maltreatment, our 269 participants were separated into either an athlete group or a non-athlete group and compared using two one-way multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA). Emotional neglect served as the covariate due to non-athletes' significantly higher emotional neglect scores than athletes. The first MANCOVA compared athletes and non-athletes on positive outcomes, which included measures of post-traumatic growth, three adaptive coping strategies, and self-compassion. In the second MANCOVA, we assessed for differences between athletes and non-athletes on negative outcomes, which included measures of traumatic, depressive, and anxious symptomology and a maladaptive coping strategy. Neither MANCOVA reached significance, rejecting our hypothesis that athletes would be more resilient than non-athletes to the negative impact of childhood maltreatment. Discussion considers possible reasons for the lack of significance, such as the recency of athletic participation or the specific type of maltreatment experienced, as well as limitations and directions for future research.
Evaluation of Kenyan Pre-Service Teachers' Preparedness to Integrate Educational Technology in Classrooms
Authors:   , Buliva Newton Evadanga
Published: February 2025

A case study was used to survey 308 teacher trainees in western Kenya to investigate the extent to which pre-service teachers in two Kenyan teacher training colleges are prepared to integrate technology in teaching. . The study uses the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework to understand the knowledge needed by the pre-service teachers to integrate technology effectively. Data was gathered using the Survey of Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching and Technology and three open-ended questions. Data from the survey does not distinguish the TPACK variable among the respondents. The data suggests that the pre-service teachers rate themselves highly on the other six TPACK subscales of technological knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, technological pedagogical knowledge, and technological content knowledge. Further, the data suggests that the respondents' personal use of technology, to a large extent, influences how they use technology in classrooms. Lastly, the data indicates that the survey instrument is inadequate in capturing all the TPACK subscales in this population as it shows weak internal consistency. These findings imply that faculty in these colleges need to be more intentional and deliberate in teaching the trainees how to integrate technology in lessons. Policymakers and college administrators may also influence the teachers' personal use of technology to inculcate into the trainees tested methods of technology integration. Another implication is that future research could employ other supplementary methods, in addition to surveys, to find out the levels of technology integration in the teacher trainees.