The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship of Andrew Johnson to the South and the effect of that relationship on presidential reconstruction. It is not meant to be a complete retelling of the story of reconstruction, rather it is an attempt to determine how Johnson affected southern ideas of reconstruction and, equally important, how southerners influenced Johnson.

The problem of this study was to determine the emphasis placed on various science teaching practices by a random sample of high school biology, chemistry, and physics teachers in selected Texas high schools. The subproblem was to compare the emphasis placed on the practices as reported by the high school teachers with the emphasis as recommended by national science education specialists, teachers of biology, chemistry, and physics in selected Texas colleges and universities, and teachers of professional education courses in selected Texas colleges and universities.

The goal of this study was to determine if performance-based tests should be routinely administered to students in computer application courses. The purpose was to determine the most appropriate mode of testing for individuals taking a computer applications course. The study is divided into areas of assessment, personality traits, and computer attitudes.

Spatiotemporal properties of classical coupled nonlinear oscillators are investigated in this thesis. Chapter 1 gives an introduction to nonlinear lattices and to the concept of breathers, that are spatially localized and temporally periodic excitation in nonlinear lattices. The concept of anti-continuous limit that provides the basic methodology in probing spatiotemporal breather properties is discussed. In Chapter 2, the general approach for finding exact breather solutions from the anti-continuous limit is examined, and the rotating wave approximation(RWA) is applied to probe the spatial structure of static breathers. Numerical evidence reveals that the RWA relates the spatial structure of stable multi-breathers to a single breather of the same frequency. Chapter 3 presents linear stability analysis of static breathers and gives a systematic way to construct mobile breathers. Formation and collision properties of this moving breathers are also studied. Chapter 4 discusses dynamics of kinks and anti-kinks in hydrogen-bonded chains in the context of two-component soliton model. From molecular dynamics simulations with finite temperature, it is observed that, in a real system (eg. ice), a pair of kink and anti-kink can evolve into a moving-breather-like excitation. Chapter 5 is devoted to the understand of the effects of disorder in the Holstein model. The …

The efficacy of a machine learning technique is domain dependent. Some machine learning techniques work very well for certain domains but are ill-suited for other domains. One area that is of real-world concern is the flexibility with which machine learning techniques can adapt to dynamic domains. Currently, there are no known reports of any system that can learn dynamic domains, short of starting over (i.e., re-running the program). Starting over is neither time nor cost efficient for real-world production environments. This dissertation studied a method, referred to as Experience Based Learning (EBL), that attempts to deal with conditions related to learning dynamic domains. EBL is an extension of Instance Based Learning methods. The hypothesis of the study related to this research was that the EBL method would automatically adjust to domain changes and still provide classification accuracy similar to methods that require starting over. To test this hypothesis, twelve widely studied machine learning datasets were used. A dynamic domain was simulated by presenting these datasets in an uninterrupted cycle of train, test, and retrain. The order of the twelve datasets and the order of records within each dataset were randomized to control for order biases in each of ten runs. …

This doctoral dissertation discusses music criticism in the New York Times and the New York Tribune from 1851-1876.

Research identifies male athletes as a subpopulation at risk for developing eating disorders and disordered eating (ED/DE). Petrie and Greenleaf's sociocultural model proposes that various correlates contribute to the etiology of ED/DE in athletes. Among the correlates, body satisfaction has been identified as a direct precursor to ED/DE symptomatology in male and female athletes. Recent research has noted self-compassion's utility in alleviating the outcomes of poor body image and ED/DE through several pathways. However, researchers have yet to examine self-compassion in relation to body satisfaction and ED/DE in male athletes or the temporal relationship between these variables. This study longitudinally examined the direct and indirect effects of self-compassion on body satisfaction and ED/DE symptomatology in a mixed-sport sample of 452 male collegiate athletes by testing the cross-lagged, temporal relationships among self-compassion, body satisfaction, and ED/DE symptomatology across a four-month time frame. Time 1 self-compassion was neither directly related to Time 2 body satisfaction (β = 0.02, p = .755), nor indirectly to Time 2 ED/DE (β = -0.002, 95% BCaCI [-0.028, 0.014]) when controlling for Time 1 scores. Recent research supports my finding and suggests that the effects of self-compassion on body satisfaction and ED/DE symptomatology may be dependent on …

Research has extensively documented the mental health disparities that exist for ethnic and racial minorities living in the United States. With respect to Latinos, such disparities are marked by less access to care and poorer quality of mental health treatment. Studies on Latino mental health have found differences in mental health service utilization among ethnic subgroups and among different generations of Latinos. However, empirical data examining specific attitudes and barriers to mental health treatment among different generations of Latinos are limited. This study explored the relationships between Latino generational status, mental health service utilization, psychological distress, and barriers to mental health treatment. An online survey (N = 218) included samples of first-generation (n = 67), second-generation (n = 86), and third-generation or beyond Latinos (n = 65). Results indicated first-generation Latinos had the lowest rate of mental health service utilization and reported greater linguistic and structural knowledge barriers, however, they had lower perceived social stigma of mental health services when age at migration was considered. Implications of these findings for research, mental health service providers and mental health policy are discussed.

Retirement from sport is a process that unfolds over time in which athletes have varied experiences, ranging from seamless transition to psychological distress. Researchers have sought to understand the variables (i.e., athletic identity, social support) that contribute to successful or unsuccessful transitions, with athletic identity being one of the most frequently mentioned. Athletes who strongly identify with the athlete role at the time of retirement are more at risk for adverse retirement outcomes (i.e., mental health concerns, identity concerns, substance use). To date, few studies have examined the moderating effect of coping resources, such as social support, on athletic identity at the time of retirement. The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, we found that student-athletes who graduated and retired had lower athletic identity, higher alcohol use, and less perceived social support than their peers who continued competing four months after graduation. Second, we longitudinally examined the relationship of athletic identity and social support to the psychological well-being (i.e., life satisfaction and binge drinking) of collegiate student athletes who retired from sport. Neither T1 athletic identity nor T1 social support, nor their interaction, were related to T2 life satisfaction or T2 alcohol use in the retired student-athletes after controlling …

This study explored how well specific socio-cognitive processes (i.e., interpersonal problems, empathy, hostile attributional biases, envy/jealousy) predicted the manifestations of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Additionally, we explored the impact of both forms of narcissism on the presence of maladaptive social behaviors (i.e., the perpetration of psychological abuse). We found that domineering interpersonal behaviors and a propensity to fantasize predicted significant unique variance in grandiose narcissism; envy of others, hostile attributional biases, and a propensity to fantasize predicted significant unique variance in vulnerable narcissism. Additionally, while domineering interpersonal behaviors and hostile attributional biases predicted significant variance in psychological abuse perpetration, only vulnerable narcissism added significant unique variance to its regression model. Lastly, only domineering interpersonal behaviors, envy of others, and hostile attributional biases predicted significant unique variance in psychological abuse victimization; narcissism was nonsignificant. The results of our study will contribute to an increased understanding of the nature of both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and the impacts these personality styles have on an individual's ability to function effectively in interpersonal relationships.

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 …

The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP) is a requirement for licensure as a psychologist across the entire United States as well as in numerous territories and provinces. Despite many longstanding criticisms and findings of bias, the EPPP is being expanded (adding a second, putatively competency-based, portion to the overall exam) and rebranded as the Enhanced EPPP. A review of literature reveals strong skepticism surrounding these developments, particularly with respect to the issue of criterion validity. The current study sought to examine the criterion validity of the EPPP by (1) drawing archival competency assessment data from existing measures (convergent validity) and (2) gathering new neurocognitive and emotional intelligence data, along with demographic data (discriminant validity), with copies of EPPP score reports from individuals who have recently taken the EPPP. Competency ratings did not significantly positively correlate with EPPP scores and, instead, indicated the opposite trend. Analyses also revealed a significant relationship between ethnicity and exam scores, with White individuals scoring higher than other ethnicities. Finally, performance on neurocognitive tests significantly positively correlated with exam scores, indicating that general test taking abilities play a larger role than abilities and competencies unique to the psychology field. Given the gatekeeping role the …

While experiencing childhood maltreatment (CM) increases the risk for negative lifetime outcomes, protective factors can lessen the harmful impact of stressful experiences and contribute to one's overall resilience. Musical engagement may operate as a protective factor by facilitating creative expression, increasing feelings of mastery, and providing a sense of belonging. It may also present stressors due to the unique demands of music performance (e.g., time constraints, competitiveness, scarce career opportunities). Due to the limited current research looking at musicians that have experienced trauma, we used a constructivist grounded theory approach to understand how the experience of engaging in music education and performance as children influenced resilience among adult survivors of CM. We invited thirteen students from prestigious music performance programs to participate based on their demonstrated resilience to perform at elite levels, despite reports of severe CM. Participants reflected on their experiences with CM, music education and performance, their identities as musicians, and the concept of resilience. Our analysis of interview transcripts supported the positive influence of social support, self-efficacy, and time and space away from their primary perpetrators of CM. Participants also consistently noted challenges present within organized music education, including ineffective instructors, pressure to perform well, and music …

Coaches' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about mental health – the construct of mental health literacy (MHL) – affects teams' mental health (MH) climates and the early detection, referral, and treatment of athletes' MH concerns. Thus, assessing collegiate coaches' MHL, and the factors related to its presence, is critical. Using the Mental Health Literacy Scale, I surveyed 1,571 NCAA coaches (Mage = 37.5 years, SD = 11.8; 51.4% cisgender female; 85.9% White) regarding their MHL and related demographic and MH-experience factors, including their belief regarding MH and sport performance. Overall, 99.9% of the coaches believed that athletes' MH affected their sport performances. Through hierarchical regression analyses, I found that coaches' exposure to MH treatment, their perceived helpfulness of MH treatment, their gender (i.e., woman), number of years coaching (i.e., fewer years), and NCAA Division in which they currently coach (i.e., DIII) were related significantly to their MHL, explaining 15.5% of variance. Coaches' race/ethnicity was not related to MHL. These findings provide insight on hiring and educating coaches, and hiring appropriately trained and licensed MH and sport psychology professionals. Specifically, coach education should be focused and practical: signs and symptoms of common MH concerns disorders; the ubiquity of MH concerns among athletes; …

The purpose of the current study was to understand the lived experiences and perspectives of high-functioning survivors of moderate or severe childhood maltreatment (CM) as related to the role of athletic participation in the development of their resilience. We emailed and screened Division I student-athletes from universities across the U. S. who did not meet criteria for a traumatic stress disorder. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach and constant comparison methodology, we obtained and analyzed interview data from 13 participants. The pathways through which participation in childhood athletics supported their coping include receiving social support from coaches and teammates, being present and engaged in their athletic participation, feeling relatively safe in their athletic environment, and spending time away from the main perpetrators of the CM. After applying concepts from existing literature to our data, we developed hypotheses to explain the processes by which participation in youth sport fosters resilience. For example, sport participation may provide opportunities for corrective emotional experiences that help young athletes heal. In addition, based on self-determination theory, maltreated elite athletes may benefit from sport participation because it meets their three basic needs (i.e., autonomy, mastery, and relatedness). We conclude this study with suggested implications for researchers …

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 …

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is composed of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), pericytes, and astrocytic endfeet, which regulate the transport of molecules into and out of the brain. BMECs possess intrinsic barrier properties that limit the passage of approximately 98% of small molecules into the brain in healthy individuals. However, in some brain diseases, the BBB undergoes structural and functional alterations, which can contribute to disease progression. In this study, we aimed to investigate the BBB by exploring the effects of endothelial cell stretching and the optimal dimensionality of stretching to enhance endothelium barrier tightness in Chapter 2. Subsequently, we developed an endothelium gradient stretching device to further examine the stretching effect in Chapter 3. Additionally, we investigated the promotion of endothelium tightness through the use of electrospun fibers, wherein we controlled the pore size. Based on these findings, we designed and fabricated an organ chip model that incorporates mechanical stretching, microfluidic techniques, electrospun fibers, and hydrogel extracellular matrix (ECM). The results of permeability testing demonstrated that this chip significantly improved the tightness of microvascular selective transport ability and has the potential to be used in drug sorting for central nervous system (CNS) diseases.

Black Lives Matter gained elevated levels of support following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. Despite temporary elevated levels of support, large segments of the populous are still reluctant and critical of the movement. This work aims to assess what role notions of respectability politics play in Black American support of Black Lives Matter. Respectability politics is consistently weaponized against members of oppressed groups including racial minorities, women, the LGBTQ community, and their related social movements. Analyzing the role of respectability politics in this context is a needed addition to the scholarly literature regarding social movement mobilization, as well as the interdisciplinary literature that has previously examined respectability in myriad forms. I hypothesize that unwillingness to support Black Lives Matter will be dependent on respectability politics as it relates to the perceived comportment and behavior police violence victims. This work included experimental analysis of the perceived respectability of a police brutality victim's "respectable" behavior being varied in the experimental treatment. I found support for my primary hypotheses that adherence to respectability politics correlated with diminished support for Black Lives Matter.

The need for online remote working from home significantly increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This unexpected crisis forced individuals and organizations to rapidly transition from face-to-face training to remote learning at home. This switch happened overnight and was not optional but necessary. Employees had to adapt to new online learning techniques, seeking to preserve the same level of learning as working from the office. The study participants were male and female remote workers in the United States aged 18 and over. A questionnaire focused on evaluating online training in the workplace and a survey measuring two types of attitudes related to the transfer of training and technology integration while taking online training courses that were distributed online. The study collected a total of 50 responses from participants for analysis. According to the study results, employees noted some positive features of remote learning, such as flexibility, self-paced learning opportunities, and faster content absorption. Areas employees identified for improvement were closely related to the causes of complaints, such as network and technology issues, using a learning management system (LMS), instructions for using an LMS or course management system (CMS), face-to-face tech support, distractions, and suitable workspace at home. The study's results …

As rates of autism diagnosis continue to rise, more autistic students are graduating high school, and seeking to pursue postsecondary education options. Dual credit coursework has proven to be advantageous for college enrollment, success, and completion rates. Autistic students, however, are not equally represented in these college-level courses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to review dual credit recruitment practices and experiences, as told from the perspective of autistic students who completed one or more dual credit courses. Relying on student voice and a disability studies perspective, the intent of this study was to inform school leaders on how to facilitate the recruitment and participation of autistic students in dual credit courses, reducing the impact of institutional ableism. Traditional informational sessions proved ineffective as a recruitment tool. While parents influenced students' decisions to enroll in dual credit classes, parents' previous college experience factored into how much support students received. Teachers had the most meaningful influence due to their personal relationships with the students. Students with early-identified advanced academic ability received more encouragement to enroll, suggesting staff training and recruitment intentionality are key components for increasing autistic students' enrollment in dual credit programs. The intense bullying that students experienced in …

Addition reactions of ten neutral nucleophiles and seven anionic nucleophiles with the pentaosmium pentadecacarbonyl carbido cluster Os5C(CO)15 have been kinetically studied and several important reactivity trends have been established. The calculated activation parameters support an associative mechanism involving the attack of nucleophiles on the parent cluster in the rate-limiting step. Decarbonylation reactions of neutral arachno clusters Os5C(CO)15L have also been kinetically studied and different reactivity trends have been observed. Reactions of Os5C(CO)15 with both neutral and anionic nucleophiles produce corresponding arachno clusters in good yield. Neutral arachno clusters decarbonylate when heated to yield corresponding nido clusters. All studied anionic arachno clusters are resistant to decarbonylation, but most of them readily react with organic acids to form corresponding hydrido clusters. Reactions of anionic arachno clusters with methyl triflate yielded several new clusters. Exploration of metal-ligand bond lengths in the respective pairs of arachno and nido clusters yielded a valuable conclusion with regard to steric effects prevalent in these molecules. The mechanisms for polyhedral structural rearrangements between arachno and nido derivatives of the pentaosmium carbido cluster have been proposed. Thermolysis of cluster Ru3[Ph2PCH(Me)PPh2](CO)10 in the presence of diphenylacetylene yields alkyne-substituted clusters Ru3(PhCCPh)[Ph2PCH(Me)PPh2](CO)8 and Ru3(PhCCPh)[Ph2PCH(Me)PPh2](CO)7 as the major products. The backbone-modified diphosphine in …

The bedrock of this dissertation is the idea that our patterns of thought, speech, and action can be distilled into two distinct approaches defined by (1) the use of things on one hand and (2) the relation to persons on the other. That first approach is represented in our life with technology and has expanded to the point of omnipresence. Being so ubiquitous, technology largely goes unexamined in the way it functions, the effect it has on us, and the effect it has on our neighbor. In this manner, the technological approach is an over-extension of the manipulation of things to the negation of the relation to persons. As a result, our capacity to relate to persons outside a narrow scope had been atrophied. This work is an attempt at renewing the relational approach within contexts shaped by and shaped for the manipulation of things, i.e., technically minded society. To that end, it is necessary to first explore the work of thinkers who have written on relationality in ways which address the over-extension of the technological approach. The thinkers I have chosen in this endeavor are Martin Buber, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, and Ivan Illich, each of whom wrote thoughtfully …

Using queer and Afrofuturist frameworks, this Black feminist qualitative study explored queer Black pre-and in-service teachers' cultural and intersectional practices as they navigated traditional heteronormative educational spaces. This research study relied on counternarratives and storytelling and drew from Afrofuturism to understand the use of their lived experiences to counter monolithic queer narratives. The queer Black teachers in this study examined and negotiated how their Blackness and queerness showed up in teacher preparation programs (TPP) and K-12 classrooms. Moreover, they eventually refused to hide or censure their authentic selves. An analysis of the narratives and counternarratives showed that queer Black teachers drew from ancestral traditions to create queer Afrofuturist spaces in TPPs and educational places. Furthermore, due to their queer Black intersectional approaches, their classrooms, assignments, curriculum, and pedagogy disrupted normative teaching practices. Implications, recommendations, and future research are discussed.

Metallic Glasses are multi-component alloys with disordered atomic structures and unique and attractive properties such as ultra-high strength, soft magnetism, and excellent corrosion/wear resistance. In addition, they may be thermoplastically processed in the supercooled liquid region to desired shapes across multiple length-scales. Recently developed metallic glasses based on noble metals (such as Pt and Pd) are highly active in catalytic reactions such as hydrogen oxidation, oxygen reduction, and degradation of organic chemicals for environmental remediation. However, there is a limited understanding of the underlying electrochemical mechanisms and surface characteristics of catalytically active metallic glasses. Here, we demonstrate the influence of alloy chemistry and the associated electronic structure on the activity of a systematic series of Pt42.5−xPdxCu27Ni9.5P21 bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) with x = 0 to 42.5 at%. The activity and electrochemically active surface area as a function of composition are in the form of volcano plots, with a peak around an equal proportion of Pt and Pd. These amorphous alloys showed more than two times the hydrogen oxidation reactivity compared to pure Pt. This high activity was attributed to their lower electron work function and higher binding energy of Pt core level that reduced charge-transfer resistance and improved electrocatalytic activity …