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When Dominance Drives: Exploring Moderators of Intimate Partner Sexual Coercion
No full textStudies have found that dominance is a predictor of intimate partner violence (IPV) (Hamby, 1996). Dominance is described as a pattern of controlling or assertive behaviors where one person seeks to exert authority or control over their intimate partner by using threats, property violence, or intense displays of verbal aggression (Murphy & Hoover, 1999). While the link between dominance and IPV is apparent, less is known about factors that moderate its relationship with sexual coercion. Sexual coercion, defined as the use of manipulative tactics to engage in sexual activity with an unwilling person, remains a challenging form of IPV to recognize and prevent. The current confirmatory study examines trait anger, negative mood regulation (NMR) and anxious attachment as moderators of the dominance-sexual coercion relationship based on their established links to IPV. The study hypothesizes that trait anger, NMR, and anxious attachment will moderate the relationship between dominance and sexual coercion in a community sample of mixed-sex physically violent couples (N = 102). Results showed that trait anger significantly moderated the dominance-sexual coercion link (b = .03, SE = .01, p = .03). Men with higher trait anger and dominance showed stronger associations with sexual coercion. However, negative mood regulation (b = .01, SE = .01, p = .12) and anxious attachment (b = -.01, SE = .03, p = .64) did not significantly moderate this relationship. Our results highlight trait anger as a key factor intensifying dominance driven sexual coercion. Men with higher trait anger may utilize dominance behaviors to perpetrate sexual IPV. These findings may inform intervention and prevention strategies aimed at addressing emotional regulation and anger management to reduce sexually coercive behaviors in intimate relationships.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg
Challenges and Innovations for Manufacturing and Operating Solid-state Batteries
No full textDriven by the tremendous global energy demands, lithium-ion batteries are reaching their performance limits, underscoring the need for next-generation energy storage systems. Solid-state batteries (SSBs) have emerged as a promising candidate due to their enhanced safety and potential higher energy density. Major battery manufacturers have announced plans to scale up production of SSB. However, academic researchers remain focused on small-scale cells (~1 cm^2), leaving a giant gap between lab-scale demonstrations and industrial-scale implementation—particularly in developing larger pouch cells (>25 cm^2), the preferred format for commercial applications. This thesis addresses the key challenges and innovations involved in the manufacturing and operation of SSBs. This thesis presents a method for producing fiber-reinforced, high-strength solid electrolyte membranes using pulsed laser processing. Second, the process science of assembling pouch cells incorporating lithium metal anodes and silver-carbon interlayer layers has been investigated. Third, the origins of high stack pressure requirements are carefully examined for halide-based SSBs. Finally, the future directions and opportunities are presented. This thesis provides a comprehensive understanding of the material, mechanical, and manufacturing barriers that must be addressed to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale cells and industry-relevant solid-state battery prototypes
Cognitive and Non-cognitive Predictors of Norm-Referenced and Everyday Math Performance in Community College Students
No full textBoth cognitive and non-cognitive factors are known to predict math outcomes, including language, working memory, spatial ability, math anxiety, and self-efficacy. While many studies have looked at these factors separately, few have examined how such skills work together to predict math. Additionally, most prior work focuses on children or university students, and little is known about the community college population. Most prior work also focuses on norm- referenced measures of computational math as outcomes, and much less is known about everyday math, such as financial or health numeracy skills often needed in daily life in adulthood. The present study evaluates the role of key cognitive and non-cognitive factors related to math ability, including their unique and interactive predictive effects, and whether these effects differ across norm-referenced and everyday math outcomes in community college students. It was hypothesized that each predictor would have a significant relationship with both math outcomes, that those relationships would be uniquely predictive, and that the predictors would interact with one another beyond their individual effects. Results showed that all cognitive and non-cognitive factors were significantly related to both math outcomes. Spatial Skill, Language, and Math Anxiety were uniquely predictive of both types of math performance. Working Memory was uniquely predictive of Everyday Math performance only, and Performance Expectancy was not uniquely predictive of either math outcome. Hypotheses regarding interactions of these factors were generally not supported. Overall, this study elucidates how key cognitive and non-cognitive factors are differentially related to everyday vs. computational math. Importantly, this study uniquely combines several key cognitive and non- cognitive factors, ultimately elucidating how expected relationships between math and it’s predictors differ when all predictors are considered together
Signal Differentiation of Moving Magnetic Nanoparticles for Enhanced Biodetection and Diagnostics
No full textMagnetic nanoparticles are extensively utilized as markers/signal labelling in various biomedical applications. Detecting and distinguishing magnetic signals from similarly sized moving magnetic nanoparticles in microfluidic systems is crucial yet challenging for biosensing. In this study, we have developed an original method to detect and differentiate magnetic signals from moving superparamagnetic (SPM) and ferrimagnetic (FM) nanoparticles of comparable sizes. Our approach utilizes a highly sensitive magnetic-coil-based sensor that harnesses the combined effects of giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) and an LC-resonance circuit, offering performance superior to that of conventional GMI sensors. Iron oxide nanoparticles, which have similar particle sizes but differing coercivities (zero for SPM and non-zero for FM) or similar zero coercivities but differing particle sizes, flow through the magnetic coil at controlled velocities. Their distinct effects are analyzed through changes in the complex impedance of the sensing system. Our findings provide a unique pathway for utilizing SPM and FM nanoparticles as innovative magnetic markers to identify specific biological entities, thereby expanding their potential applications
Teacher Perception of Asian American Students as Model Minority in STEM: Does Having Multicultural Perspective Help?
No full textBackground: In the United States, Asian Americans are often stereotyped as “model minorities” who are naturally proficient in STEM fields. While this stereotype may appear positive, it can obscure the diverse experiences of Asian American students, including those who face academic challenges or racial trauma, ultimately undermining their psychological well-being. Despite growing attention to race-related experiences in STEM education, most existing research focuses on college-level settings, leaving early educational environments underexamined. Purpose: Given that teachers play a critical role in shaping students’ academic pathways, this study explores how teacher perceptions of student STEM abilities are influenced by student race/ethnicity and the teacher’s multicultural perspective. Prior research suggests that teachers’ multicultural awareness and attitudes can significantly impact their evaluations of ethnically diverse students. This study addresses three research questions: (1) Are Asian American students more likely than White, African American, or Latinx peers to be referred to an advanced STEM program, after controlling for social desirability and teacher characteristics? (2) Are Asian American students perceived as more likely to succeed in such programs than their peers? (3) Does teachers’ multicultural perspective moderate these perceptions? Methods: A total of 301 in-service secondary school teachers in the U.S. were recruited via Prolific and randomly assigned to evaluate a vignette of a hypothetical student whose ethnicity varied across conditions. Teachers also completed measures assessing their multicultural attitudes, social desirability, and demographic characteristics. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Findings revealed that v Asian American students were significantly more likely to be referred to advanced STEM programs and were perceived as more likely to succeed compared to White students. However, while multicultural attitudes positively influenced evaluations of non-Asian students, perceptions of Asian students remained relatively stable regardless of teachers’ multicultural awareness. Notably, implicit bias favoring Asian students was most evident among teachers with lower levels of multicultural perspective. Conclusion: These findings highlight important insights into teacher perceptions and implicit biases in students’ academic evaluations, emphasizing how teachers’ multicultural attitudes shape expectations for different student ethnic groups
Where Are They Now? A Look at CTE Student Enrollment Outcomes
No full textBackground: Career and Technical Education programs (CTE), known for much of the 20th century as vocational education programs, were designed to prepare high school students for work. CTE programs are now designed to prepare high school students with skills that lead to a career or to postsecondary programs. While the literature is generally positive with respect to student participation in CTE, this study examined performance indicators of career and technical education in the state of Texas for 2021 and 2022. Purpose: This study presented an analysis of CTE program outcomes to expand the sphere of evaluation regarding the efficacy of CTE in preparing students with career ready skills. Questions addressed were related to placement, graduation, credential earned, academic proficiency attained, intention post-secondary, and completion status of graduates. Methods: This quantitative descriptive research study utilized a descriptive design to determine the status of student outcomes at various points in their CTE enrollment. This was done through the examination of 2021 and 2022 archival data to answer research questions that targeted the research question outcomes of placement, graduation, credential earned, academic proficiency attained, intention postsecondary, and completion status. These questions inquired about the proportion of CTE Concentrators who met the various program outcomes. Results: The proportion of CTE students who meet the State performance level outcomes expectations in the various criteria are as follows for 2021 and 2022 respectively: Placement (79%; 82%); Graduation (97%; 97%); Credential (52%; 49%); Academic Proficiency (English/language arts STAAR EOC – 65%; 69%; Mathematics STAAR EOC (70%; 66%)); Postsecondary Intention (40%; 42%); Completers (22%; 23%). Conclusion: The findings showed CTE Concentrators met or exceeded the performance level for four of the six standards included in the study; post-secondary intentions and completers' performance levels were not met. These outcomes demonstrate that CTE in Texas effectively prepares high school graduates in the requisite academic skills for entry into postsecondary education and to a career, and to earn industry-recognized credentials
Percussion Based Detection Method for Localization of Pipe Inspection Gauge using Advanced Machine Learning Classification and Clustering Techniques.
No full textPipelines carry the blood upon which our 21st century is built. They are used all over the world, transporting oil, natural gas, water, and other valuable liquids allowing for basic necessities and travel. However, pipeline infrastructure on the decline from old age and constant use, maintenance and mitigation has emerged as a necessity to upkeep the piping. In recent decades, pipe inspection gauges (PIGs) have emerged as key tools which can flow through a pipe to conduct cleaning or inspection tasks. These PIGs can span up to multiple feet in length, and due to varying conditions in the pipe from construction shape to contaminant blockage, PIGs can become stuck themselves in pipelines leading to major downtime and contingency operations to remove the PIG. This can be extremely costly and time consuming. Various PIG localization techniques have been invented, using a whole suite of advanced instruments, from global positioning to magnetic based tracking to percussion based. Percussion based detection in particular stands out due to its ability to be done in all pipeline environments and its simplicity and cost effective nature. With no current methods in the industry currently to track stuck PIGs in pipelines, this thesis focused on using percussion based detection and machine learning methods to localize missing PIGs. From a simple strike on a pipe system, this thesis compared advanced supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques (Support Vector Machine, Convolutional Neural Network + Long-Short Term Memory Network, Feedforward Neural Network, gradient boosting, Gaussian Mixed Model and K-means clustering) to find cost effective localization techniques. Results showed that MFCC feature extraction and Convolutional Neural Network + Long-Short Term Memory Network and Gaussian Mixed Model clustering techniques were able to best classify at high accuracy missing pipe inspection gauges in an experimental pipeline system
Long Live Degenerate Art: The Struggle for a National Identity in 20th Century Egyptian Art
No full text"Long live degenerate art" is the slogan that the anti-fascist surrealist Art et Liberte Group chose as their motto within their 1938 manifesto. Egyptian artists chose the slogan as a response to Hitler's critique of the modern art movement within Europe, which at the onset of the century began to find roots in the abstract and the grotesque. The group was established in Cairo, Egypt to promote non-traditional surrealist disciplines in the arts. The aim of this group was to mobilize against fascism of all kinds, and artists inspired by the Art and Liberty group later resulted in the development of other artistic political groups. This research analyzed the relationship between art and nationalism in the Egyptian context particularly as it has been both a tool/catalyst for change[?] and has proved both advantageous for the movement and restrictive.Art, School ofHonors CollegeModern and Classical Languages, Department o
Puntada Mitocondrial/Abuela Debe Ser Tiempo
No full textWeaving is a "methodological resource" (Lomanto Perdomo 4) that allows writers to consider the expansive combination of literary genres as a semantic expression across various forms and disciplines. The concept of weaving guides writing toward a responsible treatment of affective bonds between humans and non-humans, the gendered division of labor, and intertextuality beyond the code of words and the page. I argue that domestic labor dynamics are conceptual invitations to create with words. According to Federici, domestic work produces the labor force, a fact naturalized in the nuclear family as women's work (Patriarcado del…10-18). This leads women to avoid wasting material resources, a relationship transferable to the written word. Consequently, the relationships of care within domestic labor, enacted through repetitive actions and communication with both humans and non-humans, are central. I focus on plants due to their sensitivity and diverse evolutionary strategies (Viola y Mancuso, Introduction). This dynamic of intertwined relationships is "simpoyetic" (Haraway 58). This juxtaposes patriarchal violence in the domestic sphere with relationships of mutual care, often occurring between women and other species. In How Forests Think, Khon argues that all beings, human and non-human, read and process signs (13). From this perspective, considering the material realities of domestic work, I posit that the word operates in creative cycles beyond the page, permeating reading. Words, in a way, mimic stitches that should not be wasted materially or semantically and can be expanded to the practice of weaving, among other things. Finally, I propose an expansive genre, based on the concept of weaving, that does not prioritize intellectual over manual labor, accounts for the gender division of labor, and explores the possibility of interspecies mutual care. This work is grounded in research on my maternal family, where women cared for my sick and elderly grandmother during her last three years. This research includes interviews, testimonies, and the creation of embroidered and knitted object
Mucosal Stem Cells From Crohn's Disease: The Role of DcR3 in Defense Mechanisms Against FasL-Induced Apoptosis
No full textCrohn's disease is a form of Inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation of the GI tract. Crohn's disease has generally been seen as an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks normal intestinal cells leading to chronic inflammation and development of Crohn's. However, research has shown three distinct cell libraries, dominated by two abnormal clusters and when xenografted into immunodeficient mice, showed fibrosis and inflammation that resembled CD pathology. These stem cells which exhibited inflammatory gene markers commonly associated with CD, leads to believe that these cells are the driving factor in CD progression. These three cell libraries, which include CLST 1 (a healthy region of stem cells which in normal conditions differentiate into epithelia typical of the terminal ileum, known as #12) and CLST 2 and 3 (referred to as #40 and #104, which differentiate into gastric like epithelia and induce inflammation and fibrosis + inflammation, respectively) New technologies and techniques have allowed us to harvest these stem cells from the terminal ileum and has allowed us to be able to grow them for experimental testing. Through RNA sequencing of these cell libraries, data has shown that #104 has abnormally high levels of Decoy Receptor 3 (DCR3) in comparison to the control library #12. With DCR3 known to inhibit Fas ligand-induced apoptosis, this presents as a possible defense mechanism that is protecting the #104. Experimental testing has provided evidence to support this theory that #104 is expressing the DCR3 as a defense mechanism to prevent cell death.Biology and Biochemistry, Department ofHonors Colleg