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Bienvenido A La Casa Colombiana: The Colombian Diaspora And Cultural Reproduction Through Colombian Restaurants In North-West Houston, Texas
No full textThis ethnographic research explores the Colombian diaspora in Houston, Texas. It moves beyond the tendency in academia to either render this community "invisible" or to frame Colombian migrants primarily through the lenses of migration, politics, and pop culture in the United States. There is a notable gap in scholarship regarding how the Colombian diaspora maintains traditions and cultural identity, particularly how these practices vary across U.S. states and cities. This thesis centers on Colombian restaurants as active cultural spaces that reinforce identity through reproducing traditional foods and hosting community festivities. It asks how Colombianidad is reaffirmed and how traditions are maintained through culinary spaces and events such as the novenas de aguinaldos. Using an anthropological lens, it draws on theories of foodscapes, placemaking, and memory to examine how these elements interconnect to sustain tradition and strengthen diasporic ties to Colombia. The methodology includes interviews with owners, staff, and guests at Colombian House and participant observation at Mi Pueblito’s novenas de aguinaldos, hosted on one of the nine nights. The thesis also weaves in the author's positionality within this diaspora, sharing individual experiences of inhabiting these spaces alongside her family. Ultimately, it offers an emic perspective on how members of the Colombian diaspora name themselves, uphold traditions, and use food as a powerful conduit to reconnect with their roots and evoke memories of a distant homeland
The Web of the Thomas Family: How Sippie and Her Family Relate to the Connections Within Music
No full textThe 'Gulf Coast Sound' is a project that documents, refines, and analyzes information from primary and secondary sources of the Houston music scene during the 1920s to 1960s. An example of the connections and movement we are studying can be identified within the Thomas family, containing musicians Sippie Wallace, George Jr, Hersal, and Hociel Thomas. These individuals not only connected with local prominent figures, but 'bigger' names in the music industry as well. The information gathered on the Thomas family, as well as other figures in the Houston music scene during this time will be collected and populate a digital humanities project, where this history and culture can be accessible to the public.Honors CollegeEnglish, Department ofLibrarie
Factors Most Impactful in The Ranking of Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership Residency Programs
No full textBackground: Current body of literature expresses predictors of successful residents and individuals who are more likely to pursue residency, gives opinions of areas for pharmacy students to consider residency, but does not explicitly study factors that most impact a resident ranking of residency programs Study Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe factors that most impact the ranking of a health system pharmacy administration and leadership (HSPAL) residency program during the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) match process. Methods: This review is a national, cross-sectional study in the form of a descriptive online survey distributed to current or past HSPAL residents who completed their programs within the past calendar year. Results: Thirty-five individuals were included in the final analysis. Factors found to be most impactful to ranking of HSPAL residency programs included factors surrounding relationships with individuals within the residency program, program flexibility to career interests, program culture, work-life balance, and rotational experiences within the program. The least impactful factors included university prestige, financial factors (salary, benefits package, and financial stability of the health system), and the clinical services offered within the health system. Discussion: HSPAL residency programs and associated graduate degree programs should consider involving these factors found to be most impactful into their recruitment strategies as well as program structures
Reduction of Carbon Emissions Generated by LNG Storage
No full textLiquified Natural Gas (LNG) has great potential to be a critical resource in the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy production and primarily consists of Methane. While storing Natural Gas as a chilled liquid is beneficial because the reduction in volume allows for more LNG to be stored, there are problems arising from this process. Namely, LNG will boil-off due to small leaks and releases harmful Methane into the atmosphere. A team of researchers at MIT researchers proved the ability of zeolitic materials to successfully transform Methane (CH4) into a less potent greenhouse gas, Carbon Dioxide. As such, there is additional work needed to address the production of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). My research aims to remove these carbon emissions by developing a system that can be directly integrated to LNG storage vessels. This subsystem can be described as an enclosed volume containing highly efficient flora with an array of sensors to detect gaseous emissions, such as CO2. These components are integrated through an autonomous operating system that will first monitor emission levels and then vent the system once the CO2 gases have been converted to O2.Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department ofHonors Colleg
Your Kids Are Your Biggest Investment: Mothers’ Perceptions of Extracurriculars to Build Human Capital
No full textMothers are frequently responsible for childcare and take on a large role in managing their children’s lives. Previous research has explored mothers as “status safeguards” who dedicate their time and energy into securing their child’s economic status. Through in-depth qualitative interviews with seventeen mothers of Generation X with athletic experience, this study investigates maternal decisions regarding cultivating their children’s human, social, and cultural capital. This study examines the following research questions: How does the mother’s experience as an athlete impact their views on their children’s participation in extracurricular activities? How does gender play a role in how mothers support their children’s involvement in extracurricular activities? Drawing from their own experiences with sports, my participants communicated their perceived benefits of participating in athletics. Additionally, they discussed the importance of other extracurriculars such as fine arts and etiquette. The women in my study described the strategic choices that they felt would lead to advantages for their children. This study furthers our understanding of how status safeguarding is enacted through childrearing practices
Reassessing the ICAO’s Standard Taxi/Ground Idle Time: A Statistical Analysis of Taxi Times at 71 U.S. Hub Airports
No full textTaxi time plays a critical role in airport capacity, aircraft fuel consumption, and emissions. It is defined as the time from touchdown to the gate and from the gate to liftoff. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) established a standard taxi/ground idle time-in-mode (TIM) of 26 min in the landing and take-off (LTO) cycle for modeling turbine engine aircraft emissions. However, actual taxi times vary significantly across airports. While a simplified standard streamlines emissions modeling, the 26 min assumption may not accurately reflect real-world conditions. While using airport-specific taxi times may not always be practical, hub classifications of U.S. commercial airports may affect taxi time and serve as a compromise between airport-specific taxi times and a simplified standard. Therefore, this study statistically analyzed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data from 71 U.S. commercial hub airports to compare reported taxi times with the ICAO’s standard and assess the influence of airport hub classifications. The exploratory findings indicate that the 26 min ICAO taxi/idle TIM does not represent reported taxi times at 70 of the 71 sampled airports. Moreover, total taxi time varied by hub classification: small-hub airports had a mean taxi time of 19.82 min (median: 18 min), medium-hub airports had a mean taxi time of 19.72 min (median: 18.25 min), and large hubs had a mean taxi time of 26.98 min (median: 25.08 min). When hub classifications were ignored, the overall mean taxi time was 23.78 min (median: 22 min), indicating a statistically significant difference between the ICAO’s standard 26 min assumption and the observed taxi times at most airports
The Effects of Combined Exercise and Learning on Dendritic Morphology of The Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Middle-Aged Female Rats
No full textDendrites are highly plastic branch-like structures on neurons that receive signals and communicate with other cells within the brain. The growth and retraction of these structures are associated with cognitive efficacy and are affected by a number of factors, including exercise, learning, and gonadal hormones. Normal aging is associated with a decline in cognitive efficacy and has also been shown to impact the morphology of dendrites. In human studies, older adults complain of declining cognition, especially among reproductively senescent women, as the age-induced decline in gonadal hormones is concomitant with age-related structural changes to the brain. Previous studies from our lab have shown preclinical evidence that voluntary exercise in middle-aged female rats enhanced cognitive performance compared to sedentary animals, with greater exercise output associated with greater performance. The current study explored if the enhanced cognitive performance associated with exercise is reflected in the dendritic morphology of neurons within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Pyramidal neurons within layers 2 & 3 of the mPFC of exercised and sedentary animals were traced. It was hypothesized that those in the exercise condition would have greater length, greater arborization, and greater spine density than sedentary animals. Though exercise output was correlated with enhanced cognition, the neurons of exercised middle-aged females were not found to be morphologically different to sedentary animals. Modulating the dendritic morphology of the mPFC does not appear to be the mechanism underpinning exercises cognitive enhancing effect
Dementia-Friendly Communities and Business Engagement: Navigating Stigma, Building Inclusive Environments, and Advancing Social Work Interventions for Older Adults with Dementia
No full textAs global populations age and dementia prevalence accelerate at an unprecedented rate, the responsibility for fostering inclusive and supportive environments for people living with dementia (PWD) must extend beyond the healthcare system to include businesses and community institutions as essential partners. In this shifting paradigm, the field of social work is uniquely positioned to lead equity-driven efforts that ensure these everyday settings uphold the dignity, autonomy, and right to age in place for PWD, while promoting their full social inclusion. This study investigated the experiential and psychological factors influencing dementia awareness and dementia-friendly behaviors among staff in community-based businesses designated as dementia-friendly. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Person-Centered Dementia Care (PCDC) framework, the research makes a novel theoretical and empirical contribution by extending both models into non-clinical, community-oriented environments. Data were collected from 492 employees and volunteers across dementia-friendly businesses in the United States using a 34-item awareness scale encompassing six domains: knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, social norms, intentions, and self-reported behaviors. Three aims guided the analysis: (1) to examine the impact of training mode and time since training on dementia awareness; (2) to evaluate how the type and duration of prior dementia exposure influence dementia awareness levels; and (3) to assess the predictive utility of TPB constructs -- attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC), in shaping intention and behavior toward PWD. Results showed that participants trained over one year prior demonstrated significantly higher awareness than those more recently trained, challenging assumptions about knowledge decay and underscoring the importance of experiential reinforcement. A robust dose-response relationship also emerged between dementia exposure and awareness, with the highest scores reported among those with both personal and professional experience. Regression analyses confirmed that subjective norms and PBC, rather than attitudes, significantly predicted intention, and that both intention and PBC were strong predictors of behavior. These findings carry important implications for workforce development, social work leadership, and dementia-friendly policy and infrastructure. The study advocates a shift from episodic informational sessions to sustained, relational, and contextually embedded training models. By operationalizing TPB and PCDC within community-based business settings, this research advances the dementia-friendly movement and initiates a scholarly dialogue around recognition and practice standards in non-clinical business environments. Future research should adopt longitudinal and equity-oriented designs to further examine disparities in awareness and build upon the theoretical foundations presented here. As one of the first studies to investigate dementia-friendly behaviors among staff in U.S. businesses designated as dementia-friendly, this work positions everyday community spaces as critical platforms for advancing cognitive inclusion, social accountability, and the well-being of aging populations
Existence of Weak and Mild Solutions for a Nonlocal Klausmeier Model
No full textThis dissertation concerns the analysis of a nonlocal form of the Klausmeier model. The Klausmeier model is a coupled system of partial differential equations governing surface water and plant biomass dynamics in semi-arid regions. The original model posits that plants disperse their seed according to classical diffusion. We opt for a nonlocal diffusive operator in alignment with ecological field data that validates long-range dispersive behaviors of plants and seeds. The equations feature homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions for the water equation and homogeneous nonlocal Dirichlet volume constraints for the plant biomass equation. The nonlocal operator involves convolution with a symmetric and spatially extended kernel possessing mild integrability and regularity properties. We then employ the Galerkin method to establish the existence of small-time weak solutions. The key challenge comes from the nonlocal operator; it has domain a subspace of instead of , precluding the use of Aubin's Compactness theorem to prove the weak convergence of the nonlinear reaction terms. To overcome this, we modify the model to include two new equations for the spatial derivatives of the surface water and plant biomass variables. This procedure allows us to recover enough regularity to establish compactness and complete the proof. To complement this analysis, we leverage semigroup theory and elliptic maximum principles to prove the existence of global mild solutions to our nonlocal model. In this setting, the spatial dimension is N > 1, and we assume that the domain has a smooth boundary. Assuming the initial data are non-negative and bounded in , we prove that the component-wise mild solutions are also non-negative and bounded for all time, with uniform bounds that depend on the initial conditions and problem parameters
Abortion in Contemporary American Theatre
No full textMy thesis is an analysis of three plays in text and production that concern abortion narratives. My aim is to determine who theatre artists believe abortion is for, and why. The productions I choose for my case studies are King Hedley II by August Wilson, Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel, and Funny, Like an Abortion by Rachel Bublitz. In my first chapter, I analyze King Hedley II in text and production. I articulate how August Wilson and the 2001 Broadway Production use abortion to tease self-empowerment for Tonya, but ultimately capitulate to the stereotype of the “superstrong Black mother." In my second chapter, I analyze the text and production of Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel. I explain the importance of her writing an abortion on stage and the benefits of her portraying DIY abortion options. However, I complicate the text by performing a racial analysis of her characters, and analyzing how an Austin, TX production of Dry Land illustrates Spiegel’s adherence to Mean Girl Feminism. And in my final chapter, I look at Funny, Like an Abortion by Rachel Bublitz in both text and production. I articulate the purpose of an artivist play, and how Rachel Bublitz accomplishes certain pro-abortion calls to action. I complicate the play by dissecting a playwright’s note at the beginning of the play that suggests, but does not require, a specific racial casting, and how it affects the Austin, TX production. In sum, I argue that contemporary abortion narratives in the American theatre carry out discursive harm onto women of color, thus limiting who we imagine abortion is for, and why