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The Effect of Different Warm-up Durations on Subjective and Objective Measures of Singing in Choral Singers Over the Age of 55
No full textChoral singing is a popular activity in the United States. Choral singers are often encouraged to warm up vocally before they sing. Considering voice conditions, like presbyphonia, that can develop shortly after retirement, more research about vocal warm-ups is needed for those over the age of 55. This study assesses the effects of various durations of vocal warm-ups on subjective and objective measures of the singing voice using a within-groups design with randomized condition order. Nine participants performed vocal warm-ups for 0, 5, 10, and 15 minutes. A song sample was then recorded and sent to two expert raters who rated the samples according to the Auditory-Perceptual Rating Instrument for Operatic Singing Voice. Participants also filled out the Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily (EASE) scale to rate how they felt about their singing. In addition to these two subjective measures, objective data were taken on pitch (Hz) and loudness (dB) of the highest loudest, highest softest, lowest loudest, and lowest softest pitches. There were no statistically significant changes in subjective or objective measures amongst the warm-up durations. This contrasts with a similar study performed on college-age music majors. Further research is needed to identify vocal warm-up types and durations that are effective with older adults
Psychopathy and Insight Within an Incarcerated Population
No full textThe clinical construct of psychopathy has been researched extensively relative to incarceration. Cognitive insight has shown to be related to prognosis and treatment outcomes with severe psychopathologies. There has been, however, limited research on both psychopathy and cognitive insight in relation to incarceration. The purpose of the present study was to examine the moderation of cognitive insight levels on rates of incarceration (the number of times someone has been incarcerated in a government detention facility) based on their level of self-reported psychopathic traits. A brief demographic questionnaire, the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, and the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale were administered to and collected from 34 current inmates at a local county jail. The results were analyzed by conducting a multiple linear regression via JASP Statistical software. The results suggest that cognitive insight does not significantly moderate the relationship between psychopathy and rates of incarceration. With these findings, further research is recommended to garner a deeper understanding of which factors impact psychopathy and rates of incarceration
Preparations
No full textThe following thesis is an excerpt from a novel depicting Caleb Warring and his employer, Mr. Phineas Pruitt, in their business of running a funeral home. It’s been a year since Caleb started working for Mr. Pruitt and since the bodies they had been embalming and preparing started coming back to life. After researching and careful planning, the two decide to embark on a trip to discover the solution to their problem, accompanied by Caleb’s best friend and Mr. Pruitt’s sister. Through the technique of agential constellations, the use of the uncanny, and a distinction between horror and terror, this novel explores what it means to die and how to connect with people in the midst of grief and loss
Right Turn at Reality: A Rhetorical Analysis of Right Wing Negotiations on Race and Masculinity in Online Spaces
No full textThe effects of right wing politically charged violence are more visible now than at any other point in recent American history. The Internet, and social media more specifically, has become a crucial nexus point in the dissemination of decentralized Alt-Right propaganda. The visual nature of social media has increased the importance of images a means of communication. Through this thesis, I analyze artifacts coming out of these spaces representing a conversation between creators and audiences, and how they work dialogically to introduce and reify symbols of white masculine supremacy within this subgroup. Through this process, I find multiple recurring patterns and motifs which transmit these ideas through the use of drawn images, and explain why the use of the image expands the rhetorical possibilities for this communicative form
Family Drug Treatment Court Program Effectiveness as a Protective Factor for Parents in Prevention of Substance Abuse Foster Care Re-entries: A Mixed Methods Study
No full textFoster care re-entry rates are high. Studies show that many foster care entries are due to substance abuse. These parents may enter a Family Drug Treatment Court Program that offers intensive therapy for the parent as well as services for the family. This study looks at the effectiveness of a Missouri County Family Drug Treatment Court Program at preventing foster care re-entry for those who graduate the program. This study uses a mixed methods research design. Caseworkers for the Missouri County Family Drug Treatment Court were interviewed. Quantitative secondary data was also obtained from the Missouri County Juvenile Office. Results show that initial reunification rates for this particular Missouri program are high, showing effectiveness at producing positive outcomes. However, this program also has a high foster care re-entry rate when compared to other studies
The Role of Interspecific Competition in the Range Collapse of a Songbird After Rapid Range Expansion
No full textThere is a wealth of evidence demonstrating interspecific competition in birds, but often this evidence is localized and may or may not entirely explain range dynamics over large geographic extents. Bewick’s Wrens (Thrymanes bewickii) and House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) are small passerine birds of the family Troglodytidae. Previous experimental evidence has demonstrated that Bewick’s Wrens suffer from asymmetric interference competition from House Wrens in Kansas, and this evidence has been cited as the likely reason for the historically recent range collapse of the Bewick’s Wren. However, I argue that localized experimental evidence is insufficient to explain abundance trends over large stretches of geographic and temporal space. By making use of several decades of climatic and count data, I applied linear modeling approaches to test the hypothesis that declines in Bewick’s Wren local abundance have corresponded spatiotemporally with increases in House Wren local abundance. I found subtle evidence for effects of competition across some time comparisons but not most time comparisons. I also found geographic variation in the relationships between the abundance trends of these two species, and support for regionally specific competition. These findings suggest that competition with House Wrens has likely been one of the drivers of Bewick’s Wrens’ range declines in the eastern United States over the past several decades. In general, this study demonstrates the utility of statistical modeling approaches in testing hypotheses related to interspecific competition
Toward a Behavior Analysis of Discrimination and Prejudice: Racism, Sexism, and the Stigmatization of Autism
No full textBehavior analysts are becoming increasingly aware of and involved in the study of issues related to sex, gender, disability, prejudice, and discrimination. This thesis integrates and discusses two collaborative manuscripts that revolve around the shared subject matter of multi-level research on systemic issues. In the first chapter, sexism and gender bias are conceptualized and informed by the framework of the nested sociobehavioral model of racism developed by Belisle et al. (2022), including implicit bias, selective gender norms, and systemic oppression, while integrating feminist and queer theories in the analysis. A model-dependent scoping review of research in major behavior analytic journals from 2000 to 2022 was conducted to locate research related to racism and sexism. Results were categorized using the nested model and the theory-to- impact framework developed by Dixon et al. (2018). Results showed that 7 of the included journals contained studies focusing on racism or sexism. Discrepancies were observed between conceptual studies that emphasized systemic oppression and experimental studies that focused on implicit bias and relational framing. Results indicate a clear need for more extensive research to guide the advancement and widespread use of practical technologies. To support emerging research in areas of stigmatization and discrimination, the second chapter summarizes a set of 2 experiments that evaluated negative stigmatization beliefs toward autistic individuals using an analytic framework rooted in Relational Density Theory (RDT; Belisle & Dixon, 2020). In the first experiment, the relational network was modeled using a multidimensional scale containing positive and negative stigmatic descriptors, and labels referring to autism. The results indicated the presence of negative stigmatic biases in all three samples, with the behavior analysts and technicians sample demonstrating the greatest overall biases. In the second experiment, a new sample was asked to report their preference among various individuals to complete tasks given the presence or absence of autism and stigmatizing descriptors. Participants showed a preference for the average person when in the presence of stigmatic descriptor words. Altogether, results show the interaction between complex relational behavior and stigmatization and speak to the potential interlocking behavior contingencies and metacontengencies that harm marginalized individuals
CUL3 Negatively Regulates NLRP12-Mediated Inhibition of the Canonical NF-κB Signaling Pathway
No full textNod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing protein 12 (NLRP12) is mainly known for its inhibitory function on NF-κB signaling in innate immune cells, and more recently, for its ability to regulate chemokine signaling and ubiquitination of the immune receptor RIG-I. Through a yeast 2-hybrid screen, the Lupfer lab previously discovered that NLRP12 interacts with other ubiquitin-associated proteins including Cullin 3 (CUL3) and RING finger protein 2 (RNF2). This research was conducted to mainly investigate the interaction between NLRP12 and CUL3 in human cells and examine the role in regulating NF-κB signaling. Previously, co-immunoprecipitation, followed by western blot analysis, and confocal microscopy confirmed the interaction in HEK293T cells. In this research, NF-κB activation was examined during the interaction. HEK293T cells that express TLR2 were co-transfected with NLRP12 and CUL3 and treated with peptidoglycan (1 µg/mL) for 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 4 hours to examine NF-κB activation. Then, NF-κB activation was assessed by western blot for IκBα phosphorylation. Although NLRP12 alone suppressed NF-κB activation, the co-transfected cells did not show a significant difference from the control transfected cells. These data suggest that CUL3 negatively regulates NLRP12, preventing it from inhibiting NF-κB signaling by ubiquitinating NLRP12 itself
Magmatic Evolution of the Chasca Orkho Lava Series and Its Magmatic Enclaves, Volcán Ollagüe, Central Andes
No full textMagma mixing is a common factor in the creation of intermediate composition magmas and a potential instigator of a volcanic eruption. Magmatic enclaves, physical evidence of magma mixing within a volcanic system, are a phenomenon whose mechanisms remain unclear and debated. Common hypotheses explaining the occurrence of magmatic enclaves within a host lava range from the repeated injection of a new magma into a shallow reservoir to the disruption of equilibrium within a stratified magma chamber. Within the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ), the occurrence of magmatic enclaves yields similar geochemical compositions to their respective host rocks, bringing more difficulty to the task of identifying magmatic end members before hybridization at these volcanic centers. In this study, whole rock and plagioclase feldspar phenocryst geochemical analysis is applied Volcán Ollagüe’s Chasca Orkho lava series’ magmatic enclaves and host lava to determine the magmatic evolution. This geochemical study utilizes major and trace element concentrations with electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) and laser ablation ICP-MS on plagioclase feldspar phenocrysts and ICP-MS on whole rock samplesfrom both magmatic enclave and host lava. Trace element data from plagioclase feldspar phenocrysts depict triangular mixing trends, evidence of three magmatic end members within the Chasca Orkho volcanic system: a primitive magma (38%-63% An), magma from a hybridizedchamber (26% - 40% An), and a magma from an altered hybridized chamber (33%-55% An). Due to the petrologic textures and trace element mixing trends of the plagioclase feldspar phenocrysts, the magmatic evolution of the Chasca Orkho series is proposed to be evidence of a stratified magma chamber. The geochemical endmember originating from the hybridized reservoir is the first to be emplaced within the Chasca Orkho shallow reservoir, followed by the basaltic andesitic endmember from an isolated chamber, creating the stratified structure of the chamber. These two endmembers are the basis of the main mixing trend of the Chasca Orkho series. The third endmember is introduced to the hybridization reservoir and alters its composition, creating the muted third endmember of the Chasca Orkho series’ magmatic evolution
An Education in Democracy: Understanding and Subverting Censorship in the English Classroom
No full textThe politicization of education has presented a challenge to offering students diverse English Language Arts instruction. Across the county, lawmakers have proposed legislation that limits discussion about race and sex or allows parents to restrict their child’s exposure to materials that violate their moral or religious beliefs. In this tug-of-war, teachers will be forced to decide between avoiding controversial topics or risking dismissal. Increasing censorship, now codified by law in many states, is rooted in our polarized political landscape, divided along cultural and geographic lines. The challenge facing educators, then, is how to create space for inclusive, social justice-oriented instruction without “violating” the rights of parents. In rural schools where teachers have fewer resources and less support, this task can be especially precarious. These issues are exacerbating the already worsening teacher shortage nationwide. The success of censorship in the classroom relies on the idea that educators are the bestowers of knowledge. Paulo Freire’s answer to the banking model of education is the empowerment of students as independent, critical thinkers. In the tradition of liberatory pedagogy, Giroux argues that educators have a responsibility to create an environment in which students can develop the skills necessary to engage in and uphold democracy. Contextualizing the debate over censorship as a crisis of democracy provides a framework through which educators can provide meaningful, inclusive instruction despite efforts to stifle discussion in the classroom. As Nadia Behizadeh suggests, Freire’s concept of problem-posing education is in alignment with project-based learning and other student-led instructional strategies. In this thesis, I will explore the potential of problem-posing education as a tool for including diverse perspectives in classrooms under threat of censorship. Woven throughout are narrative “excursions” that illustrate the challenges of teaching today and the consequences of censorship for students. Despite policies that seek to censor instruction, the English classroom can maintain a focus on social justice by providing a safe, open space for discussion and empowering students to engage meaningfully with diverse perspectives