Recently, 3D printing has received increasing attention for the fabrication and assembly of electrodes for batteries due to the freedom of creating structures in any shape or size, porosity, flexibility, stretchability, and chemistry. Particularly, zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) are favored due to high safety, cheap materials cost, and high volumetric capacity (5,849 mAh/cm3), however, rapid evaporation of Zn due to low melting temperature has limited its 3D printability via conventional laser-based additive manufacturing technique. Here, we develop a printable ink for the fabrication of flexible and 3D printed Zn anode with varied surface areas using the direct ink writing (DIW) method. Our 3D printed porous and high surface area Zn anode structures effectively suppressed the dendrite growth while providing high Zn ion diffusion towards the cathode to significantly enhance the performance of ZIB. By varying filament distancing and path, we 3D printed zinc anode structures with different active surface areas, surface area to volume ratio, porosity, flexible and multiple layer structures that can be incorporated on any device. Carbon in the composite improved conductivity, and mechanical stability of 3D printed zinc anode. Our 3D printed composite anodes allowed flexible designing of batteries surpassing conventional battery designs such as coin cells …

Due to inadequate long-term and large-scale observation approach for observation of soil moisture across the globe, this study intends to unveil the importance of using simulated soil moisture fields from land surface models, forced with observed precipitation and near-surface meteorology in monitoring drought and formulating effective water management practices for continued production irrigation applications. This study shows that socio-economic and ecosystem effects can be determined by evaluating spatial-temporal changes in irrigation applications. Thus, it facilitates understanding of the importance of water management and how water, energy, and carbon flows protect our climate and environment. By using Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) in monitoring soil moisture, the information obtained is critical in providing early drought warnings, particularly in those parts of the United States that experience flash agricultural droughts. Further, this study highlights that frequent and reliable soil moisture measurements from SMAP helped improve the predictive capability of weather and climate models.

Probiotics/prebiotic supplementation represents a viable option for addressing systemic inflammation and chronic disease risk resulting from excessive body weight. The purpose of this feasibility study was to determine if 90-d of supplementation with prebiotic and probiotic could alter mRNA responsible for inflammation and subsequently metabolic health in weight stable overweight adults. Participants were advised to not change their diet or exercise habits during the study. All protocols were approved by the University IRB and participants gave written informed consent. Participants were randomly assigned to either placebo (N=7; rice flour) or combined (N=8) prebiotic (PreticX® Xylooligosaccharide; 0.8 g/d; ADIP) and probiotic (MegaDuo® Bacillus subtilis HU58 and Bacillus coagulans SC-208; 3 Billion CFU/d) and measurements were made at baseline, 30, 60, and 90-d. Whole body DXA scans (GE iDXA®) and blood 574-plex mRNA analysis (Nanostring®) were used to generate primary outcomes. Compared to placebo, supplementation was associated with a 36% reduction in visceral adipose tissue (p = 0.001). Supplement resulted in significant, differential expression of 15 mRNA associated with adipose tissue inflammation, systemic inflammation, and/or chronic disease risk. The key findings support that 90-d prebiotic/probiotic supplementation may be associated with an improved metabolic health, reduced adipose tissue inflammation, reduced systemic inflammation, and …

The quality of workplace morale can positively and negatively affect employee engagement. Engaged employees are more likely to participate in active communication with one another. They are also more likely to adopt the organizational goals and work towards creating a productive work environment. Communication and engagement build trust. Established trust between employees and executive leadership is a delicate relationship to maintain, though it is necessary when contending with periods of stress. The organization profiled below experienced the stressor of needing to grow without alienating those afraid of change or used to operating in one predictable direction. There was a desire to generate engagement, build trust and make room for employee-directed change. This desire left the organization open to exploring its culture and its impact on employee engagement.

This thesis attempted a cross-species replication of Bland, et. al., 2018. Human participants went through a computerized, automated shaping procedure that trained them to click on and discriminate between a blue square (SD) and red square (S-delta) on a VR 12 schedule of reinforcement. Three conditions were then presented to the participants consisting of a baseline, punishment, and control condition. In the punishment and control conditions, the SD was replaced by the S-delta or a novel stimulus respectively for 1-second on a VR 5 schedule. With each click, the reaction time and specific object clicked on were recorded. While the present study partially replicated the effect seen in earlier research, our results suggest that, depending on the lens of analysis used, either a punishment or an extinction effect may be causing the results seen.

Multiple contributors to neurocognitive impairment in individuals with sickle cell disease have been identified. Research indicates that a history of cerebrovascular accidents, such as silent infarcts and strokes are associated with greater cognitive decline among children with sickle cell disease. Additionally, disease effects such as hemoglobin and hematocrit levels significantly effect cognitive performance among this population and should be taken into consideration when examining neurocognitive impairment. Further, previous studies show a significant relationship between child behavior problems, family functioning, and cognitive performance in children with sickle cell, marking those as important targets for intervention among this population. While cognitive decline with increased age is not typically examined in healthy child populations, some research indicates the presence of age effects in those with SCD. A majority of the literature addresses cognitive impairment from a broad perspective, while a limited number of studies have begun to address effects among specific cognitive domains. Using archival data from the National Institutes of Health's Cooperative Study of Sickle Cell Disease, results revealed that disease severity was negatively correlated with some aspects of cognitive functioning, including visual-spatial domains. Additionally, some measures of cognitive performance were inversely correlated with age. Consistent with hypothesized outcomes, family functioning was …

Air corridors are an integral part of the advanced air mobility infrastructure. They are the virtual highways in the sky for transportation of people and cargo in the controlled airspace at an altitude of around 1000 ft. to 2000 ft. above the ground level. This paper presents fundamental insights into the design of air corridors with high operational efficiency as well as zero collisions. It begins with the definitions of air cube, skylane or track, intersection, vertiport, gate, and air corridor. Then, a multi-layered air corridor model is proposed. Traffic at intersections is analyzed in detail with examples of vehicles turning in different directions. The concept of capacity of an air corridor is introduced along with the nature of distribution of locations of vehicles in the air corridor and collision probability inside the corridor are discussed. Finally, the results of simulations of traffic flows are presented.

Behavior analysts often work with families from diverse cultural backgrounds. Ideally, behavior analysts and families interact in ways that are responsive to the family's culture and valued outcomes. The data indicate that most behavior analysts, however, come from one dominant cultural group. This is a proposal for training program and evaluation method to support culturally responsive professional-family interactions. This proposed study is designed to be conducted via Zoom-- a cloud-based video conferencing service. A pre-post treatment design is proposed to assess the effects of the training. Hypothetical data were generated to consider the range of effects such a program might have on trainee responses to written/live scenarios. Responses in the observation protocol included written descriptions, empathetic statements, perspective taking statements, and non-verbal behaviors. Overall, the program was designed using evidence-based procedures and is likely to support behavior analysts in training and in practice to improve their interactions with families and become more culturally responsive to groups of people that are from the non-dominant culture.

Synthetic biology is a rapidly growing field that aims to treat cellular biological networks in an analogous way to electrical circuits. However, the field of plant synthetic biology has not grown at the same pace as bacterial and yeast synthetic biology, leaving a dearth of characterized tools for the community. Due to the need for tools for the synthetic plant biologist, I have endeavored to create a library of well-characterized TATA box variants in the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) 35S promoter using the standardized assembly method Golden Braid 2.0. I introduced single nucleotide changes in the TATA box of the CaMV 35S promoter, a genetic part widely used in plant gene expression studies and agricultural biotechnology. Using a dual-luciferase reporter system, I quantified the transcriptional strength of the altered TATA box sequences and compared to the wild-type sequence, both in transient protoplast assays and stable transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants. The library of TATA-box modified CaMV 35S promoters with varying transcriptional strengths created here can provide the plant synthetic biology community with a series of modular Golden Braid-adapted genetic parts that can be used dependably and reproducibly by researchers to fine-tune gene expression levels in complex, yet predictable, synthetic genetic circuits.

An artwork "Treasure Box" titled as part of 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Chenxi Gao, entitled "Home Do You Remember Me Home" in the Cora Stafford Gallery South, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201 from March 20 to March 23, 2024. "Home, Do You Remember Me, Home" is an exhibition that explores the quiet complexity of an emerging sense of self in relation to the effects of time and space.

An artwork named "Shelf Life" (No. 4) as part of the 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Aaron Hollingsworth, entitled "Land of the Living" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201 from February 28 to March 2, 2024. "Land of the Living" by the artist represents the captured essence of an idealized location, offering a shift in our perspective of the environments around us. Figures and objects within these places undergo transformative journeys, fostering intimate dialogues within the captured space.

An Installation view of Worn by the Sea as part of 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Jordan Scott, entitled "Worn by the Sea" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, North, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX from March 6 to March 9, 2024. Worn by the Sea is an exhibition that presents jewelry inspired by natural environments, particularly the ocean, showcasing a unique blend of hammer forming, enameling, patination, and textile techniques in metal to evoke the beauty and wonder of marine life.

An Installation view of Fan Series/Pelagic Series as part of 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Jordan Scott, entitled "Worn by the Sea" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, North, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX from March 6 to March 9, 2024. Worn by the Sea is an exhibition that presents jewelry inspired by natural environments, particularly the ocean, showcasing a unique blend of hammer forming, enameling, patination, and textile techniques in metal to evoke the beauty and wonder of marine life.

An artwork titled "Fan Series/Pelagic Series" as part of 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Jordan Scott, entitled "Worn by the Sea" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, North, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX from March 6 to March 9, 2024. Worn by the Sea is an exhibition that presents jewelry inspired by natural environments, particularly the ocean, showcasing a unique blend of hammer forming, enameling, patination, and textile techniques in metal to evoke the beauty and wonder of marine life.

An artwork named "Shelf Life" (No. 1) as part of the 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Aaron Hollingsworth, entitled "Land of the Living" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201 from February 28 to March 2, 2024. "Land of the Living" by the artist represents the captured essence of an idealized location, offering a shift in our perspective of the environments around us. Figures and objects within these places undergo transformative journeys, fostering intimate dialogues within the captured space.

An artwork named "Shelf Life" (No. 2) as part of the 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Aaron Hollingsworth, entitled "Land of the Living" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201 from February 28 to March 2, 2024. "Land of the Living" by the artist represents the captured essence of an idealized location, offering a shift in our perspective of the environments around us. Figures and objects within these places undergo transformative journeys, fostering intimate dialogues within the captured space.

An artwork named "Shelf Life" (No. 3) as part of the 2024 MFA exhibition by artist Aaron Hollingsworth, entitled "Land of the Living" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, UNT Art Building, 1201 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX 76201 from February 28 to March 2, 2024. "Land of the Living" by the artist represents the captured essence of an idealized location, offering a shift in our perspective of the environments around us. Figures and objects within these places undergo transformative journeys, fostering intimate dialogues within the captured space.