Intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs between two individuals who have formerly been or are currently in an intimate relationship. IPV includes physical violence, sexual violence, threats of physical or sexual violence, and emotional abuse (Kernic, Wolf, & Holt, 2000; Rennison & Welchans, 2000). Experiencing IPV is associated with a serious impact on psychological health (Afifi, MacMillan, Cox, Asmundson, Stein, & Sareen, 2008; Calvete, Corral , & EstΘvez, 2008). Research on other forms of trauma indicates that experiential avoidance (EA) plays an important role in psychological distress and psychopathology. Thus, it was hypothesized that EA would play a key role in the impact of IPV. Using the Baron and Kenny (1986) method, the current study examined whether EA was a mediator between IPV severity and psychological distress, and whether EA was a mediator between IPV severity and PTSD symptomology, more specifically. In addition, mediational analyses were run to determine if suppression changed the relationships between IPV severity and psychological distress, or IPV severity and PTSD symptomology. Using the same methods, EA and suppression were both also examined as mediators between psychological/verbal abuse severity and psychological distress, and between psychological/verbal abuse severity and PTSD symptomology. No significant results were found in a …

This study examined three high schools in a large urban school district in Texas that achieved an academically acceptable rating after being sanctioned to reconstitute by state agencies. Texas state accountability standards are a result of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2011 (NCLB). Texas state law requires schools to design a reconstitution plan after the second year of receiving an academically unacceptable school rating for failing to meet the required standards on state assessments, dropout rates, and graduation rates. The plan must be implemented by the third year. A mixed methods approach was used to uncover the strategies that were successful during the restructuring initiative. Data was obtained from three sources: interviews, document analysis and surveys. Interviews were conducted with district administrators, campus based administrators and teachers of the three high schools. A sample of core content teachers were surveyed using questions from the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success. Results revealed that each school chose to engage in a major form of restructuring that included the formation of a themed based magnet school. A team approach was used to devise, implement, and monitor the reconstitution plan. Common strategies unveiled in the study included …

In this exploratory study, 35 male professionals who had successfully completed residential sex addiction treatment were surveyed. Respondents’ median age was 47.5, and reported ethnicities were White (89%), Asian, (9%) and Hispanic (2%). Prior to intake, 17 respondents had reportedly violated sexual boundaries with patients, clients, or staff (BV group) and 18 reportedly had not (NBV group). Respondents completed a demographic information form and two validated instruments: (a) Sexual Symptom Assessment Scale (S-SAS), measuring symptom severity of Compulsive Sexual Behavior (CSB); and (b) Boundary Violation Index (BVI), assessing frequency of risk factors for Sexual Boundary Violation (SBV). Respondents reported a very large decrease in CSB symptom severity over time (partial 2 = .856), change that was statistically equal for respondents in the BV and NBV groups. Furthermore, respondents reported a large decrease in SBV risk over time (partial 2 = .620); however, the BV group reported a greater decrease in SBV risk than the NBV group (partial 2 = .221). Reductions in both CSB symptoms and SBV risk were stable over time, up to five years post discharge. CSB symptoms and SBV risk were not correlated at retrospective pre-treatment, but for practical purposes, were moderately correlated at post treatment (r …

This dissertation examined the relationship between the three year academic success of transfer students and the variables of race, gender, age, number of transfer credit hours, and place of residence. The study was conducted at Midwestern State University, a public, regional four-year institution and followed the incoming transfer classes of the fall 2005 (N = 292), 2006 (N = 323), and 2007 (N = 286) semesters. The subjects included in this study were all new transfer students who met the university.s requirement to live on campus. The dependent variable, three year academic success, was defined as whether or not the student was still persisting or had graduated within three years from the date of initial enrollment. The independent variables were housing status during the first semester after transfer, age at time of transfer, gender, race, and the number of credit hours at the time of transfer. The first research question aimed to determine if housing status impacted the three year academic success in the population. Chi-square analysis found that there were no significant distributions of the students who lived on-campus and the students who lived off-campus during their first semester after transfer. The second research question aimed to determine if …

This study examines upward economic mobility into the planter class in Texas during the antebellum statehood period, 1846-1860. Using quantitative methods to analyze data from census and tax records, this study addresses several questions regarding the property owning experience of Texas planters. Did any of the 1860 planters, men or women, rise to that status from another class? If so, how many rose from small slaveholder or small planter origins, and how many advanced from plain folk origins? In what ways did the amount and nature of wealth of these individuals change in the period studied? In what ways do these findings provide insights into the debate over planter dominance versus ‘plain folk’ inclusive herrenvolk democracy and the relationship between the planters and the other classes? Did the experiences of female planters differ from that of male planters? Did female planter experiences in Texas differ from female planters in other parts of the Old South? The results of these questions demonstrate that economic class mobility into the richest class was significant but limited and that women’s experiences were closely tied to those of male kin.

Abstract British composer Tarik Hamilton O’Regan is a significant choral composer of the early twenty-first century. O’Regan’s Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis and The Ecstasies Above exhibit two notable compositional techniques: minimalism influenced by Steve Reich and exoticism representing Balinese gamelan and Andalusian music. Additionally, Reich joins the technique of minimalism with the Renaissance practice of alternatim. The examination of these works will demonstrate the application of these two compositional techniques and how he integrates them into a textural context to evoke specific historical and cultural practices. Furthermore, this study will provide guidelines for researching and performing O’Regan’s choral works by explaining O’Regan’s stylistic characteristics.

The Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, within the remote Sub-Antarctic ecoregion is a reservoir of expressions of biological and cultural diversity. Although it is considered one of 24 wilderness areas remaining in the world, it is not free from local and global threats, such as invasive species, and climate change. Field biologists and philosophers associated to the Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program and the Omora Ethnobotanical Park, have worked to describe the region’s biocultural diversity, linking ecological and philosophical research into education, ecotourism, and conservation, through a methodology called field environmental philosophy (FEP), which integrates ecological sciences and environmental ethics through a 4-step cycle consisting of: 1) interdisciplinary research; 2) composition of metaphors; 3) design of field activities with an ecological and ethical orientation; and 4) implementation of in situ conservation areas. In this context, the purposes of this dissertation were to: 1) provide a comprehensive review of publications regarding the conservation status of aquatic and terrestrial insects at a global scale and with an emphasis in southern South America; 2) study the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates through the sharp altitudinal gradient of the Róbalo River watershed; 3) describe the life histories of Gigantodax sp (Simuliidae: Diptera) and Meridialaris chiloeense (Leptophlebiidae: Ephemeroptera) …

Critics who discuss Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony often write about aspects that run counter to their conception of what a symphony should be, such as this symphony’s static nature and its programmatic elements. In nineteenth-century Boston and London, criticism of the Pastoral Symphony reflects the opinions of a wide range of listeners, as critics variably adopted the views of the intellectual elite and general audience members. As a group, these critics acted as intermediaries between various realms of opinion regarding this piece. Their writing serves as a lens through which we can observe audiences’ acceptance of ideas common in contemporaneous musical thought, including the integrity of the artwork, the glorification of genius, and ideas about meaning in music.

The research question addressed by this study is: what is the relationship between Europeanization and the rise of extremist parties? In particular I examine the impact of Europeanization on the rise of extreme right parties in Europe from 1984 to 2006. Europeanization in this paper is defined as a process whereby the transformation of governance at the European level and European integration as a whole has caused distinctive changes in domestic politics. This process of Europeanization is one part of a structure of opportunities for extremist parties (which also include social, economic, and electoral factors). Although this study finds that Europeanization does not have a statistically significant effect it is still an important factor when examining domestic political phenomenon in Europe.

The purpose of this study was to see how students used podcasts in an eighth-grade American history unit and the value they placed on them as an educational tool. The 6-week study was conducted in a suburban middle school in a district that is part of a large metropolitan area in Texas. Participants included 29 students and 2 eighth-grade teachers. The research questions were the following: (1) How do students use podcasts in an eighth-grade American history class? (2) How do students perceive the impact of the podcasts on their overall learning of the subject material? and (3) Do the podcasts motivate the students to study? Quantitative data were collected through a Likert-scaled student survey and logs kept by students. Qualitative data were collected through an open-ended portion of the student survey, student focus group discussion, and a faculty interview. The treatment tools were audio podcasts in the form of vocabulary-quiz reviews, historical vignettes, lectures, and a unit test review—all on the topic of the American Revolution. The data indicated that the students primarily used their computers at home to listen to the podcasts as they prepared for quizzes and/or the unit test. The students believed that the podcasts had …

This descriptive multi-case study systematically explored the team teaching relationship between a secondary teacher and a university faculty member. Multiple interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of available data provided insights into the interactions of these particular collegial-teams, drawn together for the purpose of providing rigorous STEM curriculum to high-ability students during a three-week residential program. Data revealed that successful collaboration can be described by the emergent themes of reciprocity, respect, flexibility, and time. It appears that an active interchange, or reciprocity, and mutual respect between partners during curriculum/lesson/unit planning, instructional delivery, and assessment facilitate effective collaborative instruction. Findings further revealed that instructors expressed an overall positive experience with collegial-teaming; one that has been valuable to them as professionals. The university instructors reported acquiring and improving upon their own pedagogical skills, while the high-school instructors reported gains in terms of obtaining in-depth content knowledge. The partnership also assisted in bridging insights between the secondary and college arenas in terms of content and academic expectations at both levels. The overall experience provided professional growth and development that would not have occurred without the unique pairing of a high-school instructor and a university faculty member.

Intuitive eating assesses the degree to which individuals eat based on physiological cues rather than emotional or situational cues. The Intuitive Eating Scale was initially developed using college women. This study extends the work of Tylka and reports on the psychometric evaluation of the Intuitive Eating Scale (IES) in a sample of 515 middle school boys and girls. Exploratory factor analysis uncovered 4 factors: unconditional permission to eat, eating for physical rather than emotional reasons, trust in internal hunger/satiety cues and awareness of internal hunger/satiety cues; confirmatory factor analysis suggested that this 4-factor model adequately fit the data after 4 items with low factor loadings were deleted. Supporting its construct validity, IES scores were negatively related to body mass index, body dissatisfaction, negative affect, pressure for thinness, and internalization of the thin ideal, and were positively related to satisfaction with life, and experiencing greater positive affect.

This paper aims to show how people use and understand metaphorical language in conversational discourse. Specifically, I examine how metaphorical language has the potential to be either effective or ineffective in its usage, and how they are bound to the contextual environment of the conversation. This particular setting is a conversation between a researcher and a participant involved in a therapeutic program. Metaphorical language is shown to be helpful for understanding difficult subjects; however, I found most metaphorical occurrences ineffective in meaning-making. Often these ineffective metaphors are elaborated or repeated throughout the discourse event, creating problems with cohesion and understanding. Metaphor use in conversation is an effective rhetorical tool for creating meaning, but it is also a problematic device when it comes to aligning participants' conversational goal.

The brand behind the garment is what gives the product popularity, relevance to the consumer, and overall profitability. As time passes, markets are becoming flooded with more brands that inherently provide the commodities. As a result, fashion marketers must put more time and investment into stipulating ways for which their brand can reach a select target consumer and enhance repeat purchase intentions with their competitive differentiations. As their efforts engage, an experiential perspective emerges in the fashion industry. By comparing fashion brands and their different distribution channels, the objectives of this study are to identify consumers’ perceptions of fashion brand experience dimensions and experience types, and to investigate the effect of brand experience dimensions and types on brand resonance. Upon extending Schmitt and Brakus, Schmitt, and Zarantonello’s experience dimensions and types, in conjunction with Keller’s brand resonance model, 12 out of 20 hypotheses confirm the significant impact of consumers experiences on brand resonance by analyzing the data (n = 374) from a university in the United States. Sensory and affective experiences are primary factors for establishing fashion brand association, while cognitive and relational driven experiences lead to establishing fashion brand loyalty. Sensory, affective, and relational experiences affect both product and …

Personality disorders are not granted the same clinical attention accorded Axis I disorders despite their instrumental role in treatment and outcome. Even when standardized assessments are used, their clinical utility may be limited by an overly favorable self-presentation. The current study focused on defensiveness, the intentional denial of symptomatology, by examining individuals’ ability to minimize their presentation on personality disorder diagnostic measures. Using a within-subjects simulation design, dually diagnosed inpatients were assessed under both honest and defensive conditions. The study used self-report (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV – Axis II – Personality Questionnaire, SCID-II-PQ) and interview-based (Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality, SIDP-IV) diagnostic measures and a self-report measure of favorable self-presentation (Paulhus Deception Scales, PDS). The inpatients were quite capable of hiding maladaptive personality traits on diagnostic measures, with similarly large effect sizes on both the SCID-II-PQ and SIDP-IV. In addition to the PDS, two new detection strategies for identifying defensiveness showed promise.

Abstract This dissertation uses archival and interpretive methods to examine the life and contributions of Mary Smith McCrory Jones in Texas. Specifically, this project investigates the ways in which Mary Jones emerged into the public sphere, utilized myth and memory, and managed her life as a widow. Each of these larger areas is examined in relation to historiographicaly accepted patterns and in the larger context of women in Texas, the South, and the nation during this period. Mary Jones, 1819-1907, experienced many of the key early periods in Anglo Texas history. The research traces her family’s immigration to Austin’s Colony and their early years under Mexican sovereignty. The Texas Revolution resulted in her move to Houston and her first brief marriage. Following the death of her husband she met and married Anson Jones, a physician who served in public posts throughout the period of the Texas Republic. Over time Anson was politically and personally rejected to the point that he committed suicide. This dissertation studies the effects this death had upon Mary’s personal goals, her use of a widow’s status to achieve her objectives, and her eventual emergence as a “Professional Widow.” Mary Jones’s attempts to rehabilitate her husband’s public …

Research has not explicitly examined the link between key components of terror management theory (TMT) and body image without the use of mortality salience. This project explored the link between cultural worldview, self-esteem, body image, and death anxiety. Multiple measures were used to create a structural equation model examining relationships between body image and death anxiety as mediated by body image in the context of TMT. The proposed model did not fit the data. Minor modifications were made to the model keeping within the proposed theoretical perspective. In the modified model the relationships between cultural worldview and death anxiety as mediated by body image were either non-existent or weak. Hierarchical regression analyses did suggest that some aspects of body image indeed did predict some, but not all dimension of death anxiety in this sample of young adults.

The delayed matching‐to‐sample (DMTS) procedure involves the insertion of a delay between the offset of a sample stimulus and the onset of an array of comparison stimuli; one of which is designated as the “correct” match for the sample on each trial. The procedure has served as the base preparation in which the effects of environmental variables on short‐term remembering and is, in many ways, responsible for a refined understanding of the phenomenon. Despite its utility, however, there are a few problems with the DMTS procedure – first, the procedure doesn’t adjust for individual differences and second, the conventional dependent measure, percent of correct trials, is not as sensitive as one might like. The titrating-delay matching to sample (TDMTS) procedure is a variant of the DMTS procedure in which the delays between sample and comparison are adjusted as a function of the subject’s performance. Stable measures of adjusted delay are not only sensitive measures of the performance of interest but they are also automatically tuned to differences across individuals. The study reported here continues our efforts to understand the dynamics of the TDMTS procedure so that it can be used to ask important questions related to short‐term remembering.

Using the 2009 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), this paper uses logistic regressions to explore the effect of facility ownership on a facility’s show of altruism. Facility’s show of altruism is operationalized as a facility offering free treatment to all its clients, free treatment to some of its clients, or a facility offering a sliding fee scale to its client base in order to absorb some of the cost of treatment based on a potential client's income. Region, receipt of public funds, and religious affiliation are added as covariates in order to gauge whether the potential relationship between facility ownership and a facility’s show of altruism is genuine. Results indicate that private, for-profit ownership status of a facility is associated with a lower likelihood that a substance-abuse treatment facility would engage in altruistic behavior. However, receipt of public funds acts as a mediating variable, in that, its inclusion raises the likelihood that a private, for-profit facility would engage in shows of altruism. Furthermore, it appears that religious-affiliation increases the likelihood that a facility would display altruism by providing free treatment, to some of its clients, or to all, but less likely to display altruism by employing a …

Crystalline indium oxide nanowires were synthesized following optimization of growth parameters. Oxygen vacancies were found to impact the optical and electronic properties of the as-grown nanowires. Photoluminescence measurements showed a strong U.V emission peak at 3.18 eV and defect peaks in the visible region at 2.85 eV, 2.66 eV and 2.5 eV. The defect peaks are attributed to neutral and charged states of oxygen vacancies. Post-growth annealing in oxygen environment and passivation with sulphur are shown to be effective in reducing the intensity of the defect induced emission. The as-grown nanowires connected in an FET type of configuration shows n-type conductivity. A single indium oxide nanowire with ohmic contacts was found to be sensitive to gas molecules adsorbed on its surface.

Campus dormitories for the University of North Texas house over 5500 students per year; each one of them requires certain comfortable living conditions while they live there. There is an inherit amount of money required in order to achieve minimal comfort levels; the cost is mostly natural gas for water and room heating and electricity for cooling, lighting and peripherals. The US Department of Energy has developed several programs to aid in performing energy simulations to help those interested design more cost effective building designs. Energy-10 is such a program that allows users to conduct whole house evaluations by reviewing and altering a few parameters such as building materials, solar heating, energy efficient windows etc. The idea of this project was to recreate a campus dormitory and try to emulate existent energy consumption then try to find ways of lowering that usage while maintaining a high level of personal comfort.

The purpose of this dissertation is to make sense of two sets of reactions. On the one hand, Americans can barely lift a finger to help threatened and endangered species while on the other, they routinely come to the aid of human victims of disaster. I argue that in contrast to cases of human tragedy, for the biodiversity crisis conservationists are faced not only with the familiar yet arduous task of motivating the American public to care for living other-than-humans, but they are also saddled with having to overcome the motivation problem of future ethics. The motivation problem consists in eliminating or bridging a motivational gap that lies between knowledge of the effects of our actions on future generations and action taken based upon such knowledge. The gap exists because motives that typically move people to action are either ineffective or unavailable. What is more, the gap influences not only our ability to care for future humans, but it affects our ability to care for future other-than-humans as well. Biodiversity loss is in fact a subset of the problem of future generations, an identification hitherto little appreciated. I argue that conservationists can overcome the motivational gap not by appealing directly …

The stability of myosin subfragment 2 was analyzed using gravitational force spectroscopy. The region was found to destabilize under physiological force loads, indicating the possibility that subfragment 2 may uncoil to facilitate actin binding during muscle contraction. As a control, synthetic cofilaments were produced to discover if the observations in the single molecule assay were due to the lack of the stability provided by the thick filament. Statistically, there was no difference between the single molecule assay data and the synthetic cofilament assay data. Thus, the instability of the region is due to intrinsic properties within subfragment 2.

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood disorder that often persists into adulthood. Among adults, ADHD is highly comorbid with addictive behaviors (e.g., substance abuse and dependence), and depressive disorders. Recently, an association between ADHD and obesity has been reported in the literature; emotional and binge eating may be “addictive behaviors” that contribute to weight gain in this population. The purpose of this study was to test competing models of the hypothesized link between ADHD symptomology and overweight. Specifically, in Model 1, symptoms of depression are expected to mediate the relationship between symptoms of impulsivity and inattention and emotional and binge eating which, in turn, leads to weight gain (i.e., increased BMI). In Model 2, however, the impulsive symptoms have direct relationships with emotional and binge eating in addition to being mediated by depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test how the models fit the data of 790 college men. Both models fit the data well, with Model 2 being preferred because of its greater connection to theory. All paths were significant indicating that increased impulsive and inattentive symptoms predicted increased symptoms of depression that, in turn, predicted increased emotional/binge eating, which has a direct and positive …