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The Ladies' Pioneer Society: Patterns of Thinking in One of the Oldest Women's Literary Clubs in the United States
No full textThe Pioneers have been meeting in St. Louis, Missouri since 1879 and are one of the oldest and longest-running women's literary clubs in the United States. These women reveal a previously unknown and rich history of women's intellectual lives spanning over a century and the fascinating stories exclusive to its members, who show a propensity for ambition and achievements far ahead of their time. In the late 19th century, Mrs. Laura Jacobson, a Pioneers member, proposed a new framework for their studies. Since then, the Pioneers have adopted yearly themes - like "The Great Books", Emerson, India, "Peace", and "Contemporary Moral Problems" - which are broken down into papers presented by each member over biweekly meetings. Through case studies of each theme, this research helps identify critical connections between this women's club and their historical, social, and political environments, and ultimately contributes to an understanding of why the Pioneers chose to study these themes.History, Department ofHonors Colleg
The Perceptions of Teaching Among Natural Science and Mathematics Majors
No full textAs the STEM teacher shortage continues to exacerbate, understanding the perceptions of teaching among STEM majors becomes critical for incentivizing teaching careers and ensuring a sustainable future for STEM education. Using the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice model, this study examines the motivations and perceptions of teaching among Natural Science and Mathematics (NSM) majors at the University of Houston. Comparing pre-service STEM teachers in teachHOUSTON to non-teachHOUSTON NSM majors, results show that teachHOUSTON NSM majors rated Satisfaction of Choice, Intrinsic Career Value, and Working with Children significantly higher than their non-teachHOUSTON peers. Additionally, interviews revealed that non-teachHOUSTON NSM majors with family members in teaching expressed a greater appreciation for the profession, suggesting that exposure to teaching enhances understanding and interest in the career. Given that STEM fields are male-dominated while teaching is traditionally seen as a female profession, this study also examines gender differences in teaching career perceptions. However, no significant gender differences were found in perceptions of teaching, suggesting that gender does not significantly influence attitudes toward the profession. These findings highlight the importance of direct teaching experiences in fostering interest in STEM education. To address the STEM teacher shortage, strategies should focus on integrating teaching opportunities into STEM courses, offering short-term classroom experiences, and reframing teaching as a leadership role in STEM fields.Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Department ofHonors Colleg
Snacking Smart? Investigating the Health Halo Effect of Brand Names on Purchase Intentions
No full textAs health-conscious consumer behavior grows, the food industry increasingly uses health-oriented brand names to influence product perception. This study explores how healthy-sounding brand names vs. unhealthy ones shape consumer evaluations of snack products, focusing on perceived healthiness, attractiveness, and purchase intention. Based on cue utilization and halo effect theories, the research examines whether healthy-perceived brand names can evoke a health halo effect, even for indulgent products like potato chips. Findings reveal that healthy brand names enhance perceived healthiness but do not directly increase purchase intention. However, perceived healthiness and attractiveness emerged as significant mediators, indirectly influencing purchasing behavior. Interestingly, attractiveness, though not rated higher for healthy brands, was a key psychological pathway. These results suggest that subtle, affective, and cognitive associations may guide consumer decisions more than overt health judgments. The findings contribute to the literature on brand naming, cue utilization, and health halo research by demonstrating that brand names alone may impact the perception of snack food product characteristics. It offers practical implications for marketers and policymakers aiming to shape healthier consumer perceptions within highly competitive, hedonic product categories
Integrating Open Science Principles into Quasi-Experimental Social Science Research
No full textQuasi-experimental methods are a cornerstone of applied social science, answering causal questions to inform policy and practice. Although open science principles have influenced experimental research norms across the social sciences, related practices are rarely implemented in quasi-experimental scholarship. In this perspective article, we describe open science research practices and discuss practical strategies for quasi-experimental researchers to implement or adapt these practices. We also emphasize the shared responsibility of external stakeholders, including data providers, journals, and funders, to create the circumstances and incentives for open science practices to proliferate. While individual quasi-experimental studies may be incompatible with some or most practices, we argue that all quasi-experimental work can benefit from an open science mentality and that shifting research norms toward open science principles will ultimately enhance the transparency, accessibility, replicability, unbiasedness, and credibility of quasi-experimental social science research
Advancing Air Quality and Wildfire Risk Assessment: Forecasting Fine Particulate Matter and Fire Weather Index Using Deep Learning, Causal Inference, and Transport Modeling
No full textThe dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of air quality forecasting, wildfire weather prediction, and smoke transport assessment over Texas and the CONUS region using deep learning (DL) and statistical frameworks. The first chapter developed four DL models, i.e., Deep Autoregressive Recurrent Neural Network (DeepAR), One-dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (1D-CNN), Long Short-Term Memory with Auto Encoder (LSTM-AE), and Bidirectional LSTM-AE to predict daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in 10 major Texas cities by processing meteorological and pollutant data from 2013 to 2022. Among the models, the DeepAR demonstrated superior performance by achieving an average index of agreement (IOA) of 0.835 and root mean squared error (RMSE) of 2.51 µg/m3. The model's predictions were linked to health outcomes through the World Health Organization's AirQ+ model, which showed increased all-cause and ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality risks during peak PM2.5 periods in Texas. The second chapter advanced wildfire research by developing a fine-resolution (4 km) Fire Weather Index (FWI). Three hybrid Graph Neural Network (GNN) models, i.e., GNN-Temporal CNN, GNN-LSTM, and GNN-DeepAR, were implemented to forecast the FWI at a 4 km spatial resolution across the CONUS, where GNN-TCNN achieved the highest performance among the models by reaching a mean IOA of 0.885 and RMSE of 1.325 for a 14–day forecast period, which successfully located seasonal and regional wildfire hotspots. The third chapter evaluated how wildfire smoke impacts surface PM2.5 levels in Texas by using Distributed Lag linear Models (DLM) along with HYSPLIT-based trajectory modeling to analyze long-distance transport. The research showed that PM2.5 levels increased by +5.9% (95% CI: 0.88–2.21; p < 0.01) and +10.1% (95% CI: 1.60–3.21; p < 0.001) for each interquartile range (IQR) increase in fire radiative power (FRP) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) during lags of 0–3 days, while HYSPLIT tracked smoke movement from distant wildfire areas to Texas during peak PM2.5 periods. These chapters showed how data-driven models can improve atmospheric hazard predictions
Comparing the Altis RepliGut Organoid System to MDCK Monolayers in Predicting the Oral Absorption of Lenalidomide
No full text<b>Background:</b> Predicting oral drug absorption in humans is critical during early drug development. Current in vitro systems to predict absorption (e.g., PAMPA and MDCK cells) are lacking for certain classes of drugs. Intestinal organoids are emerging as a promising alternative that offers several potential advantages. In this study, we utilized human intestinal organoid-derived monolayers to predict oral absorption of lenalidomide. <b>Methods:</b> Human jejunal organoids (RepliGut<sup>&reg;</sup>) were cultured as monolayers on transwell plates and differentiated into intestinal epithelial cells. Lenalidomide permeability in the organoid system was compared with the permeability in the conventional Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cell (MDCK) monolayer system, as well as P-gp knockout, human P-gp overexpressing, and human BCRP overexpressing MDCK cells across a concentration range of 1 to 500 &micro;M. Male Sprague Dawley rats were administered lenalidomide orally/intravenously, and concentrations in the serum, urine, and feces were measured and modeled in Phoenix WinNonlin. <b>Results:</b> Orally administered lenalidomide was well absorbed by rats at all doses (bioavailability = 68&ndash;120%). In the human jejunal organoid model, lenalidomide apparent permeability (Papp) was approximately 0.6 &times; 10<sup>&minus;6</sup> cm/s independent of the concentration used (1&ndash;500 &micro;M). In contrast, lenalidomide Papp was significantly lower in gMDCK cell monolayers, approximately 0.2 &times; 10<sup>&minus;6</sup> cm/s. Additionally, lenalidomide was identified as a P-gp/BCRP substrate in intestinal organoids and gMDCK P-gp and BCRP overexpressing cells. <b>Conclusions:</b> Lenalidomide Papp was significantly lower in gMDCK monolayers than expected based on its high bioavailability. Our results suggest that organoid systems can better capture transporter and paracellularly mediated effects on drug permeability, which may allow for more accurate predictions of in vivo absorption
Pain-Related Anxiety and Smoking Lapse/Topography Among Black Individuals who Smoke with Chronic Pain
No full textAfrican American/Black (hereafter Black) individuals are a tobacco disparities population. Although smoking and chronic pain often co-occur, there has been no evaluation of the importance of pain processes among Black persons who smoke. Pain-related anxiety, which reflects concern about pain-related somatic sensations, may be one underrecognized individual difference factor that may help in understanding smoking maintenance and relapse among Black individuals who smoke with chronic pain. Therefore, the purpose of the current project was to understand the role of pain-related anxiety in terms of smoking lapse using a multimodal assessment of smoking behavior via topography and self-report. Participants completed two experimental sessions: 1) 16 hours of smoking deprivation and 2) smoking ad libitum (order counterbalanced). Participants were 38 Black individuals who reported daily combustible cigarette smoking with chronic pain (Mage= 55.89; SD=10.06; 23.7% female). Results were partially consistent with prediction. Specifically, results suggested that pain-related anxiety was statistically significantly associated with greater nicotine withdrawal and smoking urges in both smoking conditions. Further, statistically significant differences were observed between smoking conditions in terms of latency to first cigarette, number of cigarettes smoked, and smoking urges. Findings provide initial evidence that pain-related anxiety may be an important cognitive-affective individual difference factor that may be involved in cessation success. Future would benefit from the recruitment of a larger sample to test more nuanced within-subjects relations of pain-related anxiety to indices of smoking lapse among Black individuals who smoke with chronic pain
Korean Identity and Traditional Elements in Younghi Pagh-Paan’s Organ Composition Unterm Sternenlicht
No full textThis study explores how traditional Korean musical and cultural elements can be expressed through a Western classical instrument, focusing on the organ composition Unterm Sternenlicht (Under the Starlight) by Korean-German composer Younghi Pagh-Paan. To do so, it employs two primary research methodologies: literature review and case study. In Part I, I explore the nature of intercultural dialogue expressed in Pagh-Paan’s music by reviewing existing literature, including interviews in which the composer articulates her own artistic vision. Through this examination, I identify three Korean cultural themes that emerge as central to her compositional language: Nongak (traditional farmer’s music), Han (a culturally rooted emotional sensibility of sorrow and endurance), and the voice of the Minjung (the collective cry of the marginalized in Korean society). Part II presents a case study of Unterm Sternenlicht, analyzing how the three Korean elements identified earlier are expressed through the organ. The rhythmic language of the piece, while more restrained than the vibrant energy of traditional nongak, still conveys a percussive sensibility adapted to the organ’s expressive capacity. In exploring han, the analysis draws on the concept of sigimsae (ornamental gestures), showing how these nuances move beyond decoration to convey emotional depth. Finally, since nongak and han are intimately linked to the lived experiences of the minjung, their musical presence in the work opens space for the minjung’s voice to emerge. While the organ may not replicate the participatory nature of minjung music, the piece invites interpretation that can embody its spirit depending on whether listeners or performers can inhabit that role. Together, these findings suggest that the organ, though rooted in Western traditions, can meaningfully express Korean cultural and emotional themes in reimagined, compelling ways. What I have discovered through this study is the very possibility that Korean cultural elements can coexist with the Western organ tradition, and more importantly, that these Korean elements can evolve in creative and non-formulaic ways within this intercultural space. In this sense, the significance of my research lies in its contribution to expanding a space for dialogue between culturally disparate traditions, using the organ not merely as a Western instrument, but as a medium for intercultural resonance and expressive transformation
Educator Perceptions of Case Method to Support High School Students' Development of Workforce Readiness Skills
No full textBackground: Over the past century, the skills and competencies needed to be successful in the workplace have changed. Unfortunately, the public education system has not evolved to meet these demands, and as a result, students are graduating ill-prepared for the workforce. Employers are now calling for a change in our education system to enhance career readiness among graduates and produce a more qualified workforce. Instructional approaches, such as project-based and work-based learning, have become commonplace to support high school students' workforce readiness. Case Method Teaching (CMT) is one such approach and has been used in higher education to foster essential career readiness skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. CMT supports students in constructing knowledge and bridging theory to practice using real-world scenarios. However, despite the need to prepare high school students for the workplace, CMT has not been widely used or studied in secondary settings. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore educators' perceptions of the utility of CMT. Ultimately, interviews questioned whether educators believe this instructional approach can foster high school students' workforce readiness skills. Methods: This basic qualitative study sought to answer the question: What are educators' perceptions about the utility of Case Method Teaching (CMT) to support high school students' workforce readiness skills? The study was rooted in constructivism and used narrative inquiry to gather data from educators. Individual, virtual interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of six educators with experience facilitating CMT. Each participant engaged in one 60-minute interview followed by two rounds of member checking. During interviews, participants were asked about their experiences teaching with CMT and their opinions about its potential to enhance secondary students' career readiness. The interviews were recorded and transcribed using Microsoft Teams, and the transcript data were coded and thematically analyzed. Double member-checking helped ensure the accuracy of the initial and final interpretations of participants' experiences. Results: Upon analysis of the educators' perceptions, five themes emerged regarding the utility of CMT in secondary schools. 1) Participants perceive CMT to be useful in fostering secondary students' workforce readiness skills. Regardless of whether they have experience facilitating CMT in high school or college courses, the participants believed that CMT can and does develop many of the soft skills that employers seek. 2) Participants felt that CMT might also help secondary students better prepare for the complexities and realities of the post-secondary world by allowing them to apply the concepts they learned in high school. 3) To use CMT effectively in high school settings, participants suggested that modifications to the method are needed, and specific key enablers must be in place. 4) Despite the stringent requirements of the high school education system, participants in this study affirmed that CMT can be implemented in various content-area courses. 5) The participants in this study displayed positive regard for the instructional approach and would choose to use CMT over other teaching methods if they were to resume teaching. Overall, the study's findings indicate there is potential utility for CMT in secondary courses. The method will likely foster necessary workforce readiness skills in high schoolers as it does in post-secondary students. Many educators in this study have facilitated CMT in high school settings and displayed positive regard for their experience and the potential for broader use. Conclusion: If adapted appropriately, CMT may help bridge the gap in high school students' workforce readiness skills. The approach can be implemented in various secondary courses to support standard-based learning and content mastery. However, additional research is needed to determine which courses are most conducive to using CMT and to verify its efficacy among secondary learners
Evaluating Strong Intra-Slab Anisotropy for Understanding Observed Complex Shear Wave Splitting Patterns in Subduction Zones and Mantle Dynamics
No full textAt subduction zones, the observed complex shear wave splitting (SWS) patterns are often interpreted as evidence of complex mantle flow models above and below the slab. However, this may not always be necessary. In this dissertation, I hypothesize that the observed SWS patterns can be predicted by a dipping anisotropic slab, rather than mantle flows. This hypothesis is motivated by prior studies which have shown that deep earthquakes are hosted in anisotropic rock fabric in slabs, inferred from analyzing non-double-couple components of moment tensors. Confirming slab anisotropy using SWS measurements is crucial for understanding subduction processes. To test the hypothesis, I analyzed data from three subduction zones, Ryukyu, Alaska, and South America. In the Ryukyu subduction zone, I made 7,093 high-quality SWS measurements from teleseismic S waves recorded by Japan’s Hi-net seismic network. These measurements reveal a systematic rotation of the fast S-wave polarization from trench-parallel to trench-perpendicular, as a function of the earthquake location or backazimuth. For the same earthquake, the splitting pattern varies spatially across southwestern Japan, not just trench-parallel or trench-perpendicular. I performed full-waveform seismic modeling and demonstrated that a dipping slab with ~30% shear anisotropy, modeled as tilted transverse isotropy (TTI) with a symmetry axis perpendicular to the slab interface, can accurately reproduce both observed SWS delay times and polarization directions. My analyses in Alaska and South America subduction zones, using 2,567 and 327 SWS measurements, respectively, had similar findings as in Japan. Analyses in all the three subduction zones – Japan, Alaska, South America – support the role of a simple dipping anisotropic slab in explaining the observed SWS patterns, without invoking mantle flows. Hence, my work represents a significant shift in interpreting SWS at subduction zones. Additionally, I investigated the depth distribution of deep-focus earthquakes in global subduction zones, including Java, Kuril, Tonga, and South America. I propose a future research direction exploring the hypothesis that deep earthquakes are triggered by carbonate melting, which depends on slab thermal conditions. Overall, through novel hypotheses, advanced data analysis, and seismic modeling, this dissertation provides new insights into subduction zone dynamics, anisotropic slab structure, and the mechanisms driving deep earthquakes