Art work, sculpture, installation by artist Jacob Tylor Gibson, as part of an exhibition entitled "From Every Depth of Good and Ill" in the Cora Stafford Gallery, University of North Texas, from April 26 to April 29, 2023.

Art work Oil on Linen by artist Sarah DePetris, as part of an exhibition entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

Art work of oil on linen by artist Sarah DePetris, as part of an exhibition entitled " Rainbows, Stones & Ghosts (Part II)" in the Cora Stafford Gallery (South), College of Visual Arts & Design, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, from April 5-8, 2023. Photographed by Stephanie Gerhart.

This study is the very first detailed description of the (finite) verb morphology in Azamgarhi, a unique Awadhic Indo-Aryan language spoken exclusively by a significant number of Muslims of the Azamgarh region of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is a part of a broader goal of holistic and comprehensive documentation of the Azamgarhi language, filling a gap in the descriptive literature, beginning with a detailed discussion on the social and linguistic background of the language in question and then moving to discuss the morphology of verb stems and their uses. The data presented here is based on analysis of elicited and textual materials from mainly the Southern dialect. Azamgarhi verbal morphology constitutes derivation and inflection.

Works of art on image transfer onto concrete, ratchet straps by artist Kaitlin West.

Works of art on image transfer onto concrete, ratchet straps by artist Kaitlin West.

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.

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.

Diversity can serve as both a unifying force as well as grounds for intolerance of differences. Behavior analysts working in applied settings often encounter diversity and it is in these settings that meaningful relationships and harmonious collaboration are vital. Skilled dialogue has been recommended as an approach to capitalizing on diverse perspectives so that new solutions and meaningful relationships are developed. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a training workshop to teach skilled dialogue to behavior analysts. The participant was trained to provide welcoming, allowing, sense-making, appreciating, joining, and harmonizing statements using instructions, rationales, models, role-plays, and feedback. The effects of the training workshop were evaluated using a multiple baseline design across training components. Audio responses to role-play scenarios were recorded, transcribed, and scored in order to assess the effects of the training workshop on communication skills. The results of the study indicated that this training workshop is an effective method to teach behavior analysts to engage in the components of skilled dialogue, hopefully contributing to harmonious collaborative communication in their work settings.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems have been proposed as a resource for combating the challenges in 5G network coverage and expanding connectivity to a global realm. This research focuses on the current architecture of LEO satellite constellations, with an emphasis on satellite coverage, visibility patterns and coordination schemes. Key-elements of integrating LEO satellites into the eMBB component of 5G are presented and a breakdown of potential link channel characteristics and physical layer performance metrics are described. The produced information allows for a justified analysis on the conceptualized integration.

Compared to other examples of human behavior, humor responses have received relatively little attention from the scientific community and by the behavior analytic community in particular. This study investigated what some of the controlling variables for humans to emit a humor response may be. Participants were randomly presented two types of word sequences/jokes: one with a matching punchline and one without a matching punchline. Participants rated whether the jokes were funny or not funny, and reaction time was measured for all stimuli presented. Generally, the results showed that reaction times to punchlines rated as not funny were shorter than punchlines that were rated funny. These differences in reaction time were interpreted with priming, intraverbal control, and multiple control as an experimental foundation. Limitations include the absence of physiological measures due to COVID-19 restrictions and the forced choice of two rating responses. The implications of this research reveal opportunities for future research of humor responses.

A projective plane tropical curve is a proper immersion of a graph into the real Cartesian plane subject to some conditions such as that the images of all the edges must be lines with rational slopes. Two important combinatorial invariants of a projective plane tropical curve are its degree, d, and genus g. First, we explore Gathmann and Markwig's approach to the study of the moduli spaces of such curves and explain their proof that the number of projective plane tropical curves, counting multiplicity, passing through n = 3d + g -1 points does not depend on the choice of points, provided they are in tropical general position. This number of curves is called a Gromov-Written invariant. Second, we discuss the proof of a theorem of Mikhalkin that allows one to compute the Gromov-Written invariant by a purely combinatorial process of counting certain lattice paths.

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.

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 …

Historical dress as a museum theater and research process encompasses material, technological, and cultural experiences from the past in the present. This research examines how intimate experiences with heritage materials, processes, and environments may impact development of educator pedagogy. Historical attractions in the US draw visitors due in part to providing guests with context for the objects and built environments displayed. New Materialist theory offers insights into how inanimate objects and environments "teach" human and non-human entities in their own right. Using a New Materialist lens, I observed, interviewed, and conducted participant observations through a novel research methodology, intra-active narrative inquiry, with costumed museum educators to better discern how relations between humans and historical materials intra-act as embodied experiences of object knowledge in museum pedagogy.

Additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) of AZ31B magnesium alloy was conducted to examine evolution of grain structure, phases, and crystallographic texture. AFSD was carried out using a hollow tool made from tool steel at a constant rotational velocity of 400 rpm on the AZ31B base plate. Bar stock of AZ31B was utilized as a feed material. The linear velocity of the tool was varied in the range of 4.2-6.3 mm/s. The feed rate of the material had to be maintained at a half value compared to the corresponding linear velocity for the successful deposition. The layer thickness and length of the deposits were kept constant at 1 mm and 50 mm respectively. The tool torque and actuator force values were recorded during the process and for calculation of the average input energy for each processing condition. Temperature during the AFSD experiments was monitored using a type k thermocouple located 4 mm beneath the deposition surface at the center of the deposition track. The average input energy values showed a decreasing trend with increasing tool linear velocity. The temperature values during deposition were ∼0.7 times the liquidus of the alloy. The deposited material then was examined by laser microscope and profilometer, …

A collection of poetry concerned with loss and the act of creation.

Broadly defined, group testing is the study of finding defective items in a large set. In the medical infection setting, that implies classifying each member of a population as infected or uninfected, while minimizing the total number of tests.

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 …

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Pb and hypoxia co-exposure on Pb toxicity and Ca homeostasis in early life stage (ELS) zebrafish (Danio rerio). Previous evidence indicates that exposure of ELS zebrafish to hypoxia (~20% air saturation) reduces Ca uptake, likely through down-regulation of the apical epithelial Ca channel (ECaC). Considering that Pb and Ca are known antagonists and compete for uptake pathways, it was hypothesized that co-exposure of Pb with hypoxia would decrease Pb toxicity by reducing Pb uptake (likely mediated through a reduced number of ECaCs). However, it was shown that at 96 hpf, whole body accumulation of both Pb and Ca was lower at 40% air saturation compared to 100% and 20% air saturation. This result closely aligned with the 96h LC50 results which showed the highest mortality of zebrafish at 40% compared to the other air saturation levels. This suggests that toxicity is likely the result of exacerbated hypocalcemia at 40% air saturation due to both Pb competition for Ca binding to Ca uptake channels/transporters, such as ECaC, and potentially reduced expression of such channels/transporters in response to this level of hypoxia. Overall, it appears that ELS zebrafish respond differentially to …

This was a mixed-method user-centered study regarding the University of North Texas's student-owned learner record and credentialing system. Through methods of quantitative and qualitative inquiry, student perceptions were unearthed and recommendations to improve the system were provided.

The interest toward Mars exploration has been considerably increasing due to also the successful deployment of the Perseverance rover and the continuous tests developed by SpaceX's launch vehicle, Starship. While the Mars 2020 mission is currently in progress, the first controlled flight on another planet have been proven in April 2021 with the vertical take-off and landing of the Ingenuity rotorcraft on Mars. In addition, the rotorcraft Dragonfly is expected to achieve the same endeavor in Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, by 2036. Continuous efforts have been oriented toward the development of new technologies and aircraft configurations to improve the performance of current proposed designs to achieve powered flight in different planetary bodies. This thesis work is a preliminary study to develop a comprehensive analysis over the generation of optimum airfoil geometries to achieve vertical flight in environments where low Reynolds numbers and Mach number equal to 0.2 and 0.5.

This study was a replication and an extension of the 2021 research performed by Spurgin and Borquez on the correspondence between receptive and expressive behavior. Spurgin examined the role of the echoic in a hear-say procedure with adult learners, while Borquez examined the role of the echoic in both hear-say and see-say procedures. Both studies found that receptive and expressive correspondence did not occur consistently across participants. The present study asked if the fading steps used during training contributed to the results of the previous researchers. In the present study, the fading steps were changed to minimize the chance that the participant developed a position bias. The conditions were also counterbalanced to analyze the effects of hear-say vs. see-say, easy vs. difficult words, and the order in which the words were trained on the acquisition of receptive labels and the emergence of expressive labels. The study consisted of five phases: pre-training, hear-say teaching, see-say teaching, receptive testing, and expressive testing. Results indicated that although that acquisition of receptive labels improved, the change in fading steps did not make a significant difference in the correspondence of receptive and expressive language. Results showed similar correspondence in the hear-say and see-say procedures. Easy …

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 …