In 1895, Emil Georg Conrad Sauer (1862-1942), a world-renowned German pianist and former student of Franz Liszt wrote his first piano concerto, which was published five years later in 1900. Sauer performed it extensively to enthusiastic crowds in Europe and the United States while on tour during the next several years. Then it vanished from the concert repertoire. It is no longer performed and has only been commercially recorded once. The purpose of this dissertation is to establish why it might have disappeared, and why there is value in bringing it back to the standard piano repertoire.

Previous literature has identified links between psychopathic trait severity and disturbed styles of attachment on sexual outcomes in adulthood. However, few studies have investigated these domains within one design. Therefore, it is unclear how they may influence each other, given that an association between attachment styles and psychopathic traits has also been previously documented. This study sought to explore the possible role of psychopathic traits upon the association between attachment and sexual outcomes. Participants were sampled from an undergraduate student population at a large university. Data were analyzed using correlational and hierarchical regression analyses, as well as two exploratory path models. Analyses suggested that aspects of attachment and psychopathic trait severity were significantly associated with each other and differentially predicted certain sexual outcomes. Furthermore, results indicated that the effects of attachment avoidance on sexual outcomes were mediated by Factor 1 traits of psychopathy, while the effects of attachment anxiety were mediated by Factor 2 traits. Additionally, it was found that attachment style was linked with contempt, and this was further linked to disturbances in sexual outcomes, which is a novel finding. Implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Wii Fit U games utilize a Wii Balance Board™ (WBB) in a manner that can provide precise feedback contingencies similarly to some forms of balance rehabilitation, thereby potentially increasing the dose of quality therapy with or without the presence of a therapist during post-brain injury rehabilitation. Additionally, an engaging video-game could improve treatment adherence, a critical aspect of making positive functional gains, by potentially increasing the rate and quality of reinforcement embedded in therapy. The present study had three aims: (1) develop a rigorous behavioral therapy for improving balance in individuals living with chronic brain injury using a Wii Fit U game and the WBB; (2) evaluate the program's effects on balance measures using a within-subject experimental design; and (3) assess social validity of behavioral gains by evaluating the program's effects on participant's "subjective balance confidence" (i.e., their Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scores). A reversal design is proposed for use with primary study participants, wherein the experimental gameplay condition and no intervention condition are alternated for 6 to 10 weeks. A similar design was used in a truncated fashion with pilot participants, and a multiple baseline design was used with follow-up pilot participants. It was expected that participants would exhibit …

Value-added models (VAMs) have become widely used in evaluating teacher accountability. The use of these models for high-stakes decisions making has been very controversial due to lack of consistency in classifying teachers as high performing or low performing. There is an abundance of research on the impact of various student level covariates on teacher value-added scores; however, less is known about the impact of teacher-level and school-level covariates. This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to examine the impact of including teacher characteristics, school characteristics, and student demographics aggregated at the school level on elementary mathematics and reading teacher value-added scores. Data for this study was collected from a large school district in north Texas. This study found that across all VAMs fitted, 32% of mathematics teachers and 37% of reading teachers changed quintile ranking for their value-added score at least once across all VAMs, while 55% and 65% of schools changed their quintile ranking of value-added scores based on mathematics and reading achievement, respectively. The results show that failing to control for aggregated student demographics has a large impact on both teacher level and school level value-added scores. Policymakers and administrators using VAM estimates in high-stakes decision-making should include teacher- …

This thesis focuses on tribal engagement and tribal consultation in the United States. In the thesis, I discuss my experience working on an interdisciplinary research team completing a formal ethnographic study which was submitted to a federal agency. Using insights gained from this experience and additional experience working with American Indian tribes, I discuss historic, contemporary, and potential future strategies for involving and engaging American Indian tribes in land and resource stewardship decisions in the United States.

The purpose of the present study was to explore a theoretically based social-cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by investigating attachment-related and social-cognitive predictors of PTSD in a sample of 125 post-9/11 U.S. combat veterans. Subjects completed an online survey assessing PTSD symptomology, attachment-related internal working models, perceived social support, and mentalizing capacity. Path analysis provided empirical support for a respecified version of the model. More negative internal working model of self and poorer mentalizing capacity predicted higher PTSD symptom levels. Contrary to previous findings, greater perceived social support predicted higher, not lower, PTSD symptom levels. Mentalizing capacity mediated the relationship between internal working model of self and PTSD symptoms in a complementary manner, whereas perceived social support as a mediator was dampening. The relationship between internal working model of others and PTSD symptom levels was fully mediated by perceived social support, which buffered the effect of negative working model of others on PTSD symptom levels. These findings underscore the importance of social-cognitive processing, rooted in early attachment experiences, in the development and symptomology of PTSD in trauma-exposed veterans. In preparing clients for trauma work, clinicians may consider employing modalities that promote earned secure attachment and highlight mentalization in …

Like many institutions of high education throughout the United States, the University of North Texas requires all students to pass introductory United States History courses. While the purpose of these courses should be to create a population well versed in U.S. history and sociopolitical and economic context, the foundational textbooks utilized in these courses promote American exceptionalism and U.S. supremacy. Their omission of the complex and controversial history of the United States creates a false master narrative based on an idealized version of U.S. history. Even textbooks that include diversity continue to uphold a progressive master narrative that ignores issues of systemic racism, sexism, and homophobia. My theoretical analysis of the required textbooks, Exploring American Histories: A Survey with Sources, is applicable to all introductory U.S. history textbooks. Decolonialism, critical race, and intersectional feminism are theoretical lenses that disentangle and highlight otherwise invisible aspects of American exceptionalism and the serious consequences of the subjugation of subaltern historical narratives. This thesis applies theory with examples of how textbooks or supplemental teaching can expose foundational oppression, violence, and discrimination to teach students critical thinking and help them see connections between the past and their present.

Research in scholarly communication is usually limited to the use and dissemination of scientific material by scholars. This excludes the transfer of knowledge from research producers to service providers. Some may argue the primary function of science is to investigate the conditions in the lab so everyday interactions with the environment are more effective and efficient. This is the underlying philosophy of the science of behavior analysis. Comprised of a basic science, an applied science and a philosophy the field of behavior analysis relies on research developments to inform effective practice. Guided by dissemination processes studied in information science, this investigation revealed the content layer in behavior analysis is primarily comprised of journal articles. Ninety four percent of the research artifacts cited in the current content layer are from journal articles. Other dissemination channels used to develop the behavior analytic content layer included scientific magazine articles, oral reports, dissertations and theses, and unpublished manuscripts. The information use environment for professionals in this field is very different than that of the scholars; most professionals do not have access to a university library. Therefore, the research producers are disseminating developments via communication channels some service providers cannot access. This investigation reveals the …

This dissertation deploys queer theory and temporality to investigate the ways in which American authors were writing about identity at the turn of the twentieth century. I provide a more expansive use of queer theory, and argue that queerness moves beyond sexual and gender identity to have intersectional implications. This is articulated in the phrase "queer textual libido" which connects queer theory with affect and temporal theories. Queerness reveals itself on both narrative and rhetorical levels, and can be used productively to show the complex navigation between individual and national identity formation.

Although one-to-one technology programs are rapidly expanding in secondary schools, the literature about how to effectively leverage these programs to improve teaching and learning is relatively small. Little guidance is available for school leaders attempting to improve teachers' willingness and ability to incorporate technology effectively into their instruction. The purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to discovery what supports school leaders provide to promote high levels of computer self-efficacy and transformational digital pedagogies in one-to-one learning environments. Data were collected from English language arts, Social Studies, and science teachers in three high schools in a suburban school district in northeast Texas using an online survey, eight virtual semi-structured interviews, and two virtual focus group interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and deductive and inductive analysis. The findings of the study reveal most teachers perceived their ability to effectively deliver digital instruction as strong, and most were able to incorporate technology into their lessons at transformational levels. The following themes emerged from data regarding teachers' perceptions of support: shared vision, realistic and supportive climate, collaboration, encouragement, job-embedded professional learning, continuous improvement, equity, and safe, legal, and ethical use. The findings of this study serve as a foundation for understanding …

Violin repertoire composed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries placed new demands on performers. While numerous pedagogues have written etudes and treatises analyzing traditional techniques, far fewer have thoroughly examined contemporary techniques. Many of the existing etudes and exercises inspired by contemporary violin repertoire are of a very high difficulty level and may seem unapproachable to students with little to no experience performing the music of recent decades. As a result, many violin students are unacquainted with the language of new music. This dissertation is intended to help fill a gap in the pedagogical literature by serving as a resource that familiarizes advanced students with the notation and proper execution of the non-traditional techniques commonly found in contemporary violin music. This document includes a survey of violin repertoire written since 1970, an analysis of the non-traditional techniques used most often in the works examined, methods for approaching specific technical problems that arise in them, and nine etudes originally composed by this author. The etudes focus on nine contemporary techniques, ranging from contact point variations to changing subdivisions, and are intended for study by advanced violinists interested in performing contemporary music.

Climate change is a growing problem for those living in the Himalayas, threatening water availability and livelihoods. This research seeks to explore the various factors contributing to water shortage and the factors leading to perceptions of water shortage in Himachal Pradesh, India. This thesis explores data collected from 50 interviews conducted in summer 2019 and seeks to understand why participants of these interviews indicated that they do not experience water shortage. The research highlights the importance of further research and needed action in terms of addressing and mitigating the impacts of climate change in the Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh.

Youth in the United States are experiencing a steep increase in mental health issues. Concurrently, unique political, economic and social dynamics in the U.S. make the circumstances of nonwhite children's mental health partially contingent on experiences of racism. In this study, I examine the relationship between racial minority children's mental health and perceived racism, while also examining the moderating effects of gender on this relationship. I first review prior research which suggest that racism is a salient determinant of several health outcomes among racial minorities and racial minority children, including depression and anxiety. I then review research on both gender and racial socialization and posit possible implications of these differentials on mental health. Considering both the racialized and gendered factors contributing to youth's mental health outcomes, this study fills a gap in previous research by exploring the differences by gender and race in the effect of perceived racism on children's mental health. I use data from the National Survey of Children's Health from 2016 to 2019. Using average marginal effects, calculated from a series of logistic regression models predicting depression, anxiety, behavioral and emotional problems, I find support for previous research which suggests that perceived racism predicts poor mental health …

This study explored NCAA athletic departments' mental health screening practices, including the mental health concerns assessed for by the mental health screening, personnel responsible for administering and reviewing screeners, and resources available for athletes identified as "at risk." Participants were athletic department staff who had knowledge of their school's mental health screening processes. Frequencies and chi-square analyses were used to assess trends across divisional levels (DI vs. DII/DIII). Analyses show that significantly more DI than DII/DDIII institutions have a formal mental health screening program. Institutions' coverage of mental health topics in their screening did not vary significantly by Divisional level, with one exception: a larger percentage of DI institutions assessed whether student athletes had worked with a mental health practitioner than DII/DIII schools. DII/III were significantly more likely to have athletic trainers both administer and review mental health screeners and DI institutions were significantly more likely to have a sport psychologist employed within their athletic department than. DI schools were significantly more likely to have had a student athlete attempt suicide and participate in inpatient treatment than DII/III schools. Implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Recovering an Irish Voice from the American Frontier is a bilingual compilation of stories by Eoin Ua Cathail, an Irish emigrant, based loosely on his experiences in the West and Midwest. The author draws on the popular American Dime Novel genre throughout to offer unique reflections on nineteenth-century American life. As a member of a government mule train accompanying the U.S. military during the Plains Indian Wars, Ua Cathail depicts fierce encounters with Native American tribes, while also subtly commenting on the hypocrisy of many famine-era Irish immigrants who failed to recognize the parallels between their own plight and that of dispossessed Native peoples. These views are further challenged by his stories set in the upper Midwest. His writings are marked by the eccentricities and bloated claims characteristic of much American Western literature of the time, while also offering valuable transnational insights into Irish myth, history, and the Gaelic Revival movement. This bilingual volume, with facing Irish-English pages, marks the first publication of Ua Cathail’s work in both the original Irish and in translation. It also includes a foreword from historian Richard White, a comprehensive introduction by Mahoney, and a host of previously unpublished historical images.

Exclusionary discipline is a consequence of behavior for students who break the student code of conduct. Extensive research about the effects that exclusionary discipline can have on secondary students, as evidenced by reduced graduation rates, has been conducted; but, research studies investigating the potential impact that exclusionary discipline can have on the academic outcomes of students at the elementary level have yet to be conducted. The use of exclusionary discipline is overrepresented in students with low socio-economic (SES) backgrounds; large populations of low-SES students are educated at Title I schools that receive federal funding to support academic growth. The purpose of this causal-comparative, non-experimental study was to investigate the impact that exclusionary discipline consequences had on fifth-grade students who attended all of the elementary schools within one north Texas school district during the 2018-2019 school year. In conjunction with the examination of the effect that the assignment of exclusionary discipline consequences can have on the academic outcomes of fifth-grade students, student-specific variables such as attendance at a Title I or non-Title I campus, student race, timing of exclusionary discipline assignment, and students in various educational programs were investigated to determine the potential impact of exclusionary discipline on fifth-grade students by …

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to highlight the lived experiences of Christian African American college males attending a Christian predominately White institution (PWI) in the South. Through in-depth personal interviews, I offer insights into this specific student population's experience. Furthermore, I provide recommendations for key stakeholders at Christian PWIs in the South as they strive to create an inclusive campus environment. The ultimate goal of the research is to aid in the recruitment and retention of this particular student population.

West Dallas AR is an interactive location-based app, using the power of multimedia and augmented reality to highlight the stories shared by West Dallas residents.

There has been an increase in the fatherhood studies with minority groups in the United States in the past decades; however, these studies rarely included Turkish American fathers. To the best of the authors knowledge, current study was the first to explore father involvement in relation to fathers' perception of mothers' gate-keeping, fathers' competence as a parent, and their cultural stance as related to conservatism among a sample of Turkish American fathers with children between the ages of 3 to 6 years (n = 103). An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the factor loadings of gate-closing and gate-opening items. The results yielded a two-factor solution with one suppressed item, and two cross-loading items with factor loadings bigger than .32. A path analysis was conducted to determine whether father's competence in relation to gate-closing and gate-opening, and father's conservatism adequately described father involvement through regression paths. The results of the chi-square goodness-of-fit test were not significant, χ2(3) = 1.84, p = .607, suggesting that the model fit the data well. Father's competency significantly predicted father involvement (B = 0.56, SE = .211, p = .008). Gate-closing (B = -30.48, SE = 15.340, p = .047) and gate-opening (B = …

Members of the elderly population is disproportionately prone to experiencing mobility impairment due to their aging bodies and as a result have frail bodies that are at a higher risk of grave injury due to falling. In order to combat this assistive mobility devices such as exoskeletons have been developed to help patients enhance their range of motion. With additive manufacturing techniques, such as fused deposition modeling (FDM), becoming a more mainstream form of design, the inclusion of lightweight polymers such as nylon 12 as primary construction materials for these devices has increased. In this thesis computer aided design (CAD) software was used to design a prototype lower body exoskeleton and simulation software was used to give the device the characteristics of Stratasys' nylon 12 carbon fiber FDM material to verify it if could be used as the primary construction material for this device when extruded from a FDM printer on either the XZ or ZX printing plane. From the simulations it was found that the material printed along the XZ plane could create a device that could withstand the weight of an average elderly male patient (200 lbs.) as well as the 35 lbs. of force applied to the …

In 2009 the Texas legislature created the National Research University Fund (NRUF), intended to encourage a select group of public doctoral universities in the state, known as emerging research universities (ERUs), to increase their institutional status related to academic research by awarding supplemental financial support for meeting specific policy metrics. Efforts to increase the research status of these universities occurred at a time when public financial support remained stagnate and overall institutional costs increased within the higher education sector. This study utilizes a theoretical approach grounded in strategic action fields and employs panel data and a difference in differences statistical technique to analyze the impact that NRUF policy has in assisting ERUs in achieving R1 status, and how this organizational change impacted access to, and the quality of, undergraduate education. Results indicate that the NRUF policy intervention was not statistically significant for any part of the study. These findings suggest that policy interventions do not matter as much as specific institutional characteristics and the overall policy environment. Enrollment and tuition revenue predicted institutional performance related to academic research and graduate education, while also assisting these institutions in maintaining undergraduate academic quality and access. These cultural and material resources at the …

Low-cost sensors have the potential to create dense air monitoring networks that help enhance our understanding of pollution exposure and variability at the individual and neighborhood-level; however, sensors can be easily influenced by environmental conditions, resulting in performance inconsistencies across monitoring settings. During summer 2020, 20 low-cost particulate sensors were deployed with a reference PM2.5 monitor in Denton, Texas in preparation for calibration. However, from mid to late-summer, dust transported by the Saharan Air Layer moved through the North Texas region periodically, influencing the typical monitoring pattern exhibited between low-cost sensors and reference instruments. Traditional modeling strategies were adapted to develop a new approach to calibrating low-cost particulate sensors. In this study, data collected by sensors was split according to a novel dust filter into dust and non-dust subsets prior to modeling. This approach was compared with building a single model from the data, as is typically done in other studies. Random forest and multiple linear regression algorithms were used to train models for both strategies. The best performing split-model strategy, the multiple linear regression models split according to dust and non-dust subsets (combined R2 = 0.65), outperformed the best performing single-model strategy, a random forest model (R2 = 0.49). …

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is recognized as a founder of the modern scientific project and a forerunner of the modern era of political thought. He advocated the development of an active science that would enable human beings to control nature in order to relieve man's estate. To accomplish this, Bacon argues that we must reconstruct all arts and sciences upon a more solid foundation. In reconstructing the arts and sciences, Bacon subtly changes the meaning of foundational religious, political, and scientific notions in order to better suit his project of progress. As the inheritors of his vision, turning to Bacon helps recover foundational considerations that have been forgotten as a result of his success. This dissertation approaches Bacon's thought through an analysis of his New Atlantis, a fable that envisions the completion of his project. I also turn to his other political, scientific, and religious works as appropriate to supply what is omitted in the fable. I find that although his revision of religious, scientific, and political foundations is conducted subtly they are nevertheless revolutionary, and essential for preparing the various outlooks that characterize the modern world.

Assessment is a foundational part of counseling practice, which includes the process of providing assessment feedback to those tested. Millions of children are assessed across the United States through the public-school system, hospital, agency, and private practice settings. Though millions of children are assessed yearly, there has been little research surrounding providing assessment feedback with children. In this study, the author qualitatively explored children's experiences with a developmentally appropriate feedback model, the young children's assessment feedback (YCAF). Participants included ten 6 to 10-year old children, who had not previously gone through psychoeducational testing within the last year. Participants completed a battery of psychoeducational assessments and the YCAF feedback process. Data sources included session transcriptions, session observation notes, child interviews, parent interviews, and expressive arts observation notes. In order to explore the perceptions regarding the YCAF, the author utilized interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand the children's feedback experiences. Findings included the following themes: freedom for self-direction, self-concept, therapeutic relationship, affective responses of child, systemic shifts, and developmental considerations. The themes show that the children in this study saw a variety of benefits and experiences surrounding receiving their own personalized, developmentally appropriate assessment feedback.