This study investigated a new approach to achieving high energy density supercapacitors (SCs) by using high surface area self-activated carbon from waste coffee grounds (WCGs) and modifying 3D printed electrodes' porous structure by varying infill density. The derived activated carbons' surface area, pore size, and pore volume were controlled by thermally treating the WCGs at different temperatures (1000˚C, 1100˚C, and 1200˚C) and post-treating with HCL to remove water-soluble ashes and contaminants that block activated carbon pores. Surface area characterization revealed that the carbon activated at 1000˚C had the highest surface of 1173.48 m2 g-1, and with the addition of HCL, the surface area increased to 1209.35 m2 g-1. This activated carbon was used for fabricating the electrodes based on the surface area and having both micropores and macropores, which are beneficial for charge storage. Direct ink writing (DIW) method was utilized for 3D printing SC electrodes and changing the electrode structure by increasing the infill densities at 30%, 50%, and 100%. Upon increasing the infill densities, the electrodes' mass increased linearly, porosity decreased, and the total surface area increased for the 30% and 50% infill electrodes but decreased for the 100% infill electrode. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) test on the assembled …

This dissertation is an examination of Divertimento for Solo Trombone and Wind Band by renowned wind band composer and conductor Jack Stamp. The result of this study is the illumination of a 21st-century composition for solo trombone and band that is made accessible for future performers, accomplished by constructing original musical exercises that are influenced by current trombone pedagogical materials that have either been edited, annotated or created by current performers and pedagogues such as Joseph Alessi, Brad Edwards and Michael Mulcahy. The piece also incorporates 20th -century American wind band influences. The careful selection of pedagogical materials serves the purpose of making this challenging solo accessible for the advanced academic trombonist and can serve as a template for surveying advanced literature of the present and future. Additionally, the pedagogical materials selected for use in this dissertation were considered based on their value in the present academic trombone repertory. Thus, this performance guide reflects on the validity of the modern trombone pedagogical literature to guide a performer's study, interpretation, and performance of a 21st-century work for solo trombone.

This research study examined the implementation of an extended reality (XR) lab on a community college campus to facilitate student and faculty access to immersive learning resources. The study, conducted during one skills day, involved 46 students and was designed to understand if integrating immersive VR into emergency medical technician (EMT) education could enhance learner confidence and motivation, develop problem-solving and analytical thinking skills, and thus connecting the classroom learning with real-world application. The majority of participants reported increased motivation and engagement, alongside improvements in learning outcomes like knowledge retention and skill development. Applying the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model revealed performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions as key determinants of VR adoption in EMT education. While no significant overall performance enhancement was observed, VR training showed potential to boost motivation, confidence, and specific performance aspects. Furthermore, student perceptions towards VR in EMT education were largely positive, thereby suggesting its utility in immersive scenario training, skill acquisition in a risk-free environment, enhancing learner engagement, and real-world situational preparedness. VR demonstrated promise as a transformative tool in EMT education, necessitating further research to fully exploit its potential in diverse learning environments.

The current study aimed to explore the direct effect of insecure adult attachment on subjective wellbeing and its indirect effect via racial-ethnic identity. Additionally, the present study examined the extent to which racial-ethnic socialization practices may moderate adult attachment and racial-ethnic identity link. The final sample included 213 emerging adults (M = 20.94; SD = 2.96) with diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds. PROCESS Model 4 and 1 were used to examine the direct and indirect effect of insecure attachment on subjective wellbeing via racial-ethnic identity variables and the interaction effect between insecure attachment and racial-ethnic socialization on racial-ethnic identity variables. Results indicated the direct effect of insecure attachment on subjective wellbeing but did not support hypotheses for the indirect effect of insecure attachment on subjective wellbeing via the racial-ethnic identity variables. Additionally, results indicated that overt socialization buffered the negative impact of attachment avoidance on racial-ethnic identity exploration. Furthermore, racial-ethnic identity variables and subjective wellbeing significantly differed across racial-ethnic groups and socioeconomic statuses. Findings provide insight on the distinct concepts of attachment and racial-ethnic identity as they highlight inter- and intra-personal components, respectively. Mental health professionals may utilize overt socialization to help clients develop a sense of purpose and meaning related to …

The bristlenose pleco (Ancistrus cirrhosus) is a species of armored catfish in the Loricariidae family that breathes air facultatively when the aquatic environment becomes hypoxic. The bristlenose pleco uses its highly vascularized stomach as an air breathing organ. The two main goals of this developmental study were to determine the size of onset of air breathing and to determine the frequency of air breathing behavior in bristlenose plecos from juveniles to adults. Developing juveniles reach functional maturity within four to six months of hatching and grow to an adult size of eight to ten cm in length. To examine the developmental timing for the onset of air breathing, we tested different sized juveniles beginning at one cm up until 8 cm in length. The developmental timing for the onset of air breathing was measured by exposing each fish to a slowly decreasing aquatic oxygen content from 100% air saturation down to 8% air saturation. Fish were first able to breathe air at just over 2 cm and 1 gram in mass. There was a weak negative correlation between fish length and % air saturation at which air breathing began. When exposed to 15% air saturation, frequency of air breathing was …

Goal and incentive alignment are a means of establishing collaborative behavior in supply chains. Essay 1 examines goal and incentive alignment at the strategic level in the purchasing process. It employs survey research in conjunction with structural equation modelling to examine the source selection strategy as a means of aligning the goals of the offeror with those of the buyer. Essay 2 examines goal and incentive alignment at the tactical level. It uses discrete event simulation to explore how the pursuit of localized profit objectives affects the global profitability of a supply chain. Lastly, Essay 3 examines goal and incentive alignment at the operational level. By employing a hybrid simulation approach to model a complex product refurbishment process, this research demonstrates that evaluating subprocesses based solely on their throughput does not equate to greater cost savings for the company at the focal point of this case study. These essays contribute to the body of knowledge in several ways. To the best of the author's knowledge, Essay 1 demonstrates the first empirical linkage, in the realm of public procurement, between the fear of a bid protest and the appropriateness of the sourcing strategy. Similarly, Essay 2 represents the first adaptation of …

Ambient lighting has emerged as a key atmospheric factor influencing how consumers process environmental cues and their behaviors. However, surprisingly little research has examined how people think and feel in the dark (lower than 15 lux). This is particularly relevant given that consumers routinely work, pay bills, relax, consume and make purchases in settings with little or no light. My dissertation addresses this gap by examining how consumers regulate their goals and process information when the light is off, and how that impacts their decision making in three substantive domains: risk-taking behavior, decision quality, and persuasion. In Essay 1, I propose darkness enables risk-taking behavior, and this effect happens through the calmness and relaxation induced in the dark. One caveat is that the decisions have to be made in a familiar setting. The effect was reflected in participants' decisions to invest in riskier yet lucrative stocks, to gamble with the riskier choice, to eat at a foreign restaurant, and to choose a supplement that has potential side effects in a field experiment and three lab experiments (pre-registered). In Essay 2, I propose that when the light is off, consumers are indeed induced to adopt an effortful processing mode. Across four …

The anti-S2 peptides, the stabilizer and destabilizer, were designed to target myosin sub-fragment 2 (S2) in muscle. When the peptides are coupled to a heart-targeting molecule, they can reach the cardiomyocytes and interfere with cardiac muscle contraction. Monoclonal antibodies, MF20 and MF30, are also known to interact with light meromyosin and S2 respectively. The MF30 antibody compared to anti-S2 peptides and the MF20 antibody is used as a control to test the central hypothesis that: Both the anti-S2 peptides and antibodies bind to myosin S2 with high affinity, compete with MyBPC, and possibly interact with titin, in which case the anti-S2 peptides have further impact on myosin helicity and reach the heart with the aid of tannic acid to modulate cardiomyocytes' contraction in live mice. In this research, the effects of anti-S2 peptides and antibodies on myosin S2 were studied at the molecular and tissue levels. The anti-myosin binding mechanism to whole myosin was determined based on total internal reflectance fluorescence spectroscopy (TIRFS), and a modified cuvette was utilized to accommodate this experiment. The binding graphs indicated the cooperative binding of the peptides and antibodies with high affinity to myosin. Anti-myosin peptides and antibodies competition with Myosin Binding Protein C …

Observational learning (OL) allows an individual to acquire novel responses by observing others' behavior and the corresponding consequences. The complexity of skills involved with OL may vary with the learning context. A learner may observe modeled responses to both trained (known) and untrained (unknown) stimuli or they may observe both reinforced (correct) and nonreinforced (incorrect) responses. The purpose of this study was to develop assessment and training procedures for OL component skills when the learner observes a combination of learning contexts: reinforced and nonreinforced responses to both trained and untrained stimuli. Two children with autism, Tom and David, participated. We assessed the following component skills in the context of tact trials: (1) Discriminating trained and untrained stimuli, (2) attending to the modeled performance, (3) discriminating consequences, and (4) conditionally responding based upon a name call. Next, we trained the component skill(s) for which the learner's performance did not meet criterion and then reassessed for OL. For both participants, immediate increases in OL were observed; however, modifications to the post-assessment (differential observing response for consequences and/or differential reinforcement) were required to produce (Tom) or maintain (David) criterion levels of responding. Interpretations of these outcomes, as well as limitations and directions for …

Effective and efficient skill-acquisition procedures must be identified to support individualized behavioral programming for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To do this, practitioners and researchers may use assessment-based instruction. Prompts are a common teaching strategy to promote skill acquisition. The purpose of this applied study was to use assessment-based instruction to evaluate the efficacy and efficiency of within- and extra-stimulus prompts to teach conditional discriminations to two children with ASD. We identified stimulus prompts using a survey of popular children's games and conducted a tablet-based instruction readiness assessment. Stimulus prompts involved motion (within-stimulus) and pointing (extra-stimulus) to evoke correct responses in the presence of a discriminative stimulus. We used an adapted alternating treatments design with a no-treatment control condition to evaluate the effects of both prompt types across multiple sets of stimuli. Both stimulus prompt types were efficacious in facilitating skill acquisition for two of three participants. Little difference was observed in the time to mastery with either prompt. Neither stimulus prompt was efficacious for the third participant. Assessment results will be used to inform clinical programming to teach conditional discriminations to participants and contribute to research on designing and implementing assessments of skill-acquisition procedures.

Logistics 4.0 suggests that increased automation can enhance performance, while Logistics 5.0 emphasizes the advantages of a modern workforce that combines humans and emerging technologies. However, the logistics industry needs a deeper understanding of human factors, an area that has been overlooked so far. To bridge this research gap, this dissertation investigated distracted driving behavior among individuals involved in transportation and logistics-based applications. This investigation employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Essay 1 focuses on a systematic literature review (SLR) that comprehensively analyzes published research on self-response studies regarding distracted driving behavior. The study identifies five overarching categories of distractions: (a) cell phone-related, (b) technology-related, (c) nontechnology-related, (d) psychological, and (e) personality. The findings underscore the substantial research conducted on self-reported distractions associated with cell phones and technology. Essay 2 employs the protection motivation theory (PMT) to develop hypotheses that predict the engagement of young drivers in texting while driving (TWD). In addition to TWD, the survey also included cognitive failure to examine the indirect effects of PMT on TWD within a mediation framework. The results, obtained through structural equation modeling with 674 respondents aged 18-25, indicate that several factors including response cost, threat vulnerability, cognitive failure, self-efficacy, and …

In this dissertation, I investigate the existing smart contract problems that limit cognitive abilities. I use Taylor's serious expansion, polynomial equation, and fraction-based computations to overcome the limitations of calculations in smart contracts. To prove the hypothesis, I use these mathematical models to compute complex operations of naive Bayes, linear regression, decision trees, and neural network algorithms on Ethereum public test networks. The smart contracts achieve 95\% prediction accuracy compared to traditional programming language models, proving the soundness of the numerical derivations. Many non-real-time applications can use our solution for trusted and secure prediction services.

Graduate students in mental health service training programs are at risk of experiencing burnout. Using adult attachment theory as the guiding framework, this study examined a conceptual model which depicted the direct and indirect effect of attachment insecurity on burnout and the subsequent psychological distress via low self-compassion and emotion regulation difficulty with two cultural samples recruited from the U.S. and Taiwan, respectively. The final sample included 216 U.S. mental health graduate trainees and 201 Taiwanese trainees. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings from the final models best supported by the data revealed that in both cultural groups, attachment anxiety contributed to lower self-compassion which subsequently resulted in greater burnout and that emotion regulation did not play a mediational role in the models. Results also demonstrated cultural differences in several paths of the research model. For the U.S. sample, only higher attachment anxiety indirectly contributed to more psychological distress through low self-compassion and burnout was best positioned as an outcome variable similar to psychological distress, instead of being a mediator. For the Taiwanese sample, on the other hand, both attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance demonstrated significant indirect effects on higher psychological distress through lower self-compassion and …

Beneficial consumer outcomes are most likely when behavior-analytic interventions are implemented with high procedural fidelity (i.e., degree to which the procedure is implemented as intended). Video self-monitoring, which involves teaching staff members to monitor their own procedural fidelity when watching recordings of themselves, can be used to improve and maintain high procedural fidelity, but video self-monitoring requires additional staff time and resources. In-vivo self-monitoring, which involves monitoring procedural fidelity during or immediately following implementing a behavior-analytic intervention, could be a cost-effective option. However, in-vivo self-monitoring needs additional research to understand its effects on procedural fidelity. This current study analyzed the effects of in-vivo self-monitoring on the procedural fidelity of three behavior technicians implementing discrete trial instruction with children with autism. We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants design to teach participants how to score their procedural fidelity during their discrete trial instruction session. Data suggested that in-vivo self-monitoring was effective for two out of three participants, and those two participants were more likely to be accurate in their self-scored procedural fidelity. Procedural fidelity for the third participant did not increase with in-vivo or video self-monitoring, and the third participant was less likely to be accurate in their self-scored procedural …

The current study is the first repeated-measures design exploring the impact of child-centered play therapy (CCPT), an evidence-based child psychotherapy intervention, on autistic children's social-emotional assets, and emotional and behavioral problems across four times during intervention based on teacher reports. Participants consisted of 19 autistic children recruited from two Title-1 elementary schools in the southwest United States who were aged between 5 years and 8.25 years (M = 6.22, SD = .91), presented with varied levels of cognitive functioning and speech and language abilities. Over 60% of participants were identified by their parents as children of color. Results indicated participants' increased time in CCPT predicted statistically significant improvement in social-emotional assets measured by Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales-Teacher (SEARS-T) total score with a large effect size. Results also indicated participants' increased time in CCPT predicted a statistically significant reduction in emotional and behavioral problems of irritability, social withdrawal, and hyperactivity/ noncompliance, measured by Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Second Edition (ABC- 2), with large effect sizes. Findings of this study revealed substantive changes in social-emotional assets as early as 8 CCPT sessions, and reduction of emotional and behavioral concerns as early as 12 CCPT sessions. Clinical significance, implications for practice, and limitations of …

Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an empirically endorsed approach for children facing specific clinical concerns and life circumstances alike. The majority of research to date has accrued data about clients from secondary sources, such as adult report and observation. The purpose of this study was to explore children's perceptions of participating in CCPT by implementing a developmentally accessible interview medium, allowing children to share their experiences directly. Ten children between the ages of 4 and 7 who had completed at least eight sessions of CCPT were invited to create a drawing and respond to an interview protocol with their counselor. Data sources included the picture produced, a transcript of the interview between the child and counselor, and observation notes of the interview process. Using a phenomenological approach, three themes were identified to describe children's awareness and experience of the intervention: expressions of relationship, experiences in the playroom, and reluctance to engage in counselor-directed activity. The first two themes reflect children's report of the intervention and the third represents reactions to the research activity. Findings from this study support conclusions that children are aware of relationship between themselves and their counselor and recognize the uniquely unstructured features of play therapy and …

The American democracy is experiencing strain from the erosion of democratic norms and its political, judicial, social, and economic institutions. In short, the American democracy shows signs of democratic deconsolidation. Community colleges are higher education institutions that help consolidate the U.S. democracy by representing democratic values such as equality and opportunity. The purpose of my study was to explore how selected community college presidents understand and articulate the responsibility of their institutions to prepare students for a meaningful role in the American democracy. Qualitative narrative inquiry methods, including in-depth semistructured interviews and document analysis, were used to collect data for the study. Three primary themes emerged from the data that addressed the purpose of this study: 1) community college philosophy: blueprint for a vision, 2) consolidating local democracies, and 3) citizens as students, students as citizens. These three themes supported further interpretation of the data that was organized under these headings, 1) the community college democratic mission, 2) community colleges help deepen democracy, and 3) the role of community colleges in the American democracy: public goods, private goods. In summary, my research found that first, my participants believed that community colleges have a responsibility to the American democracy and this …

Recent research suggests that race and ethnicity influence post-buyout land management in Harris County, Texas, yet lacked systematic empirical evidence to fully understand the relationship between management and demographics. To address this gap, this study analyzes post-buyout land use management practices and compares them with the socio-economic characteristics of the adjacent neighborhood at the block level in Harris County, Texas, an area with a long buyout history. I first identified post-buyout land use management practices in Harris County through county records and photo documentation of approximately 2000 buyout sites through fieldwork from 2017-2022. Second, using Ode and colleagues' framework for identifying visual characteristics on the landscape, I developed an index and evaluated post-buyout land use management practices for aesthetics, utility, and function. Finally, I spatially analyzed the socio-demographic composition of buyout neighborhoods using U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year data (2017-2021) and compared it with post-buyout land use management practices in ArcGIS. From this spatial analysis, I identified differences in post-buyout land management that homeownership status, race, and ethnicity affected post-buyout land management. Most buyout properties in Harris County are managed as mowed, vacant lots regardless of socio-demographics; however, litter and debris were more prominent in predominantly Black neighborhoods. Of …

Carbene ligands over these years have become a heavily utilizes and effective ligand for catalysis. The diamino carbene class of ligands are slightly less understood. The effects of bis(carbene) ligand structures of palladium (II) catalysts were investigated using the ETS-NOCV method. The results showed that the amount of π-backbonding played a major role in the rate of the reaction for these NHC complexes. The amount of pi acceptance from the ligand increased in correlation to the length of the methylene linkage in the ligand back bone resulting in increased catalytic activity. The ETS-NOCV method was used to determine the deformation densities that had a contribution to this interaction based on visual interpretation. The percent contribution of pi interactions provided a linear correlation to the natural log of the initial reaction rate, indicating that π-backbonding plays a crucial role in the overall catalytic activity of the palladium complexes. Gold (I) bis acyclic diamino carbenes (ADCs) were investigated for the possibility to be strong hydrogen bond catalysts. The ligand motif of the gold (I) bisADCs were found to be analogous thiourea compounds. Based on NBO analysis there were some improvements to hydrogen bond donicity in comparison to thioureas with the same functional …

This research serves two main purposes: to create an analyzed edition of Ray Brown's bass lines from the Oscar Peterson Trio's 1964 recording We Get Requests, and to better understand Brown's lines through the lens of Ray Brown's Bass Method. This comparative analysis identifies significant events in the recorded music that closely relate to or resemble exercises from the book. By analyzing the music from the lens of Ray Brown's Bass Method, performers, students, and educators will gain a stronger understanding of the application of select technical devices provided by Brown in his book. The most prominent techniques discussed include scales and intervals, major triads, minor triads, and chords, exercises in tenths, rhythm patterns with drops, and diminished patterns. These evidence-based conclusions have significant applications in jazz bass pedagogy by revealing potential relationships between technical ideals and practical use. Although these conclusions may seem of concern only to jazz bassists, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the connection between pedagogy and performance.

Social media is considered a particularly conducive arena for hate speech. Counter speech, which is a "direct response that counters hate speech" is a remedy to address hate speech. Unlike content moderation, counter speech does not interfere with the principle of free and open public spaces for debate. This dissertation focuses on the (a) automatic detection and (b) analyses of the effectiveness of counter speech and its fine-grained strategies in user-generated web content. The first goal is to identify counter speech. We create a corpus with 6,846 instances through crowdsourcing. We specifically investigate the role of conversational context in the annotation and detection of counter speech. The second goal is to assess and predict conversational outcomes of counter speech. We propose a new metric to measure conversation incivility based on the number of uncivil and civil comments as well as the unique authors involved in the discourse. We then use the metric to evaluate the outcomes of replies to hate speech. The third goal is to establish a fine-grained taxonomy of counter speech. We present a theoretically grounded taxonomy that differentiates counter speech addressing the author of hate speech from addressing the content. We further compare the conversational outcomes of …

Sibling aggression is one of the most frequently occurring forms of aggression within the family and has been associated with socioemotional problems. Guided by the cultural context perspective and family systems theory, a conceptual model depicting the direct and indirect effects of cultural orientation values, traditional gender role attitudes, parental differential treatment, and parent-child conflict on sibling aggression and psychosocial functioning (i.e., psychological distress and interpersonal difficulties) was developed. It was hypothesized that perceptions of cultural values and gender role attitudes endorsed by primary caregivers would be associated with family dynamics factors (i.e., parental differential treatment and parent-child conflict) that contributed to sibling aggression and resulting impaired psychosocial functioning. A total of 272 participants completed the online questionnaire that measured the variables of interest. Structural equation modeling (SEM) methods were used to analyze the data. Findings of the final models lent clear support to the indirect effects of cultural values and gender role attitudes on sibling aggression and resulting psychosocial functioning through differential treatment and parent-child conflict although the results also yielded some unexpected nuances regarding the indirect effect paths. Specifically, lower levels of independent cultural values contributed to greater levels of sibling aggression and impaired psychosocial functioning through more …

On April 16, 2014 the Sewol Ferry became one of the worst maritime disasters in South Korea with the loss of 304 passenger, the majority being high school students. South Korea is a collectivist culture, structured as a hierarchical system that teaches their students and children to always respect, listen, and trust authority figures especially in dangerous situations. This study explores how collectivist cultural elements impacted the response of the Sewol Ferry. By examining the timeline of the disaster through interviews, documentaries, news articles and media; this thesis offers insight into what happened that day by providing perspectives from the rescue crew, government officials, survivors, volunteers, and family members of those who died. The analysis showed that in collectivist culture, children and students are taught to trust and listen to authority figures when in dangerous situations, however because of the Sewol disasters, the culture of adhering to the hierarchical systems started to collapse. Students who survived stated that they no longer can trust and respect adults after the incident along with family members of the students who passed away and the public. Also, the government withheld information and failed to protect the children aboard the ferry, because they didn't want …

Radio map estimation (RME) is the task of predicting radio power at all locations in a two-dimensional area and at all frequencies in a given band. This thesis explores four deep learning approaches to RME: dual path autoencoders, skip connection autoencoders, diffusion, and joint learning with transmitter localization.