17179 research outputs found
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Analysis of Artifacts and Interpreting Site Function and Abandonment at 41PT96
No full textNo abstract prepared.Anthropolog
Autistic Traits and Camouflaging: Impacts of the Gap Between Actual and Perceived Social Cognition
No full textDifferences in social cognition are a core part of autism. Researchers have long viewed these differences as deficits but recently have moved toward treating them as normal variations. Within this movement, researchers are studying the subjective experiences of autistic individuals, including how autistic people view their own abilities, known as self-assessment accuracy. We conducted a study examining the relationships between social cognition abilities, self-assessment accuracy, and autistic traits in non-autistic adults. We found that autistic traits did not moderate the relationship between actual and self-assessed scores on social cognitive tasks. Additionally, autistic traits did not impact the relation between actual and self-assessed scores on a control cognitive task without a social component. Future research should continue to examine these relationships in both autistic and non-autistic populations with a focus on understanding how self-assessment accuracy impacts real-world experiences.Psycholog
Visions of a National-Catholic Future: Portuguese and Spanish Education Under Salazar and Franco, 1933-1953
No full textThis thesis explores and compares the creation and implementation of fascist educational systems in Portugal and Spain throughout the decades of 1930 and 1940. First, it details the synthetic ideals of citizenship for the creation of new fascist men and women sponsored by the Salazarist and Francoist projects, through a review of the different currents of nationalist, traditionalist, Catholic, and fascist thought that gave birth to syncretic authoritarian ideologies as these regimes consolidated their rule. Then, it dives into their attempts to implement those projects through educational structures, law, and curricula during their early decades. It argues that the core contents of early Salazarist and Francoist education shared many more similarities than divergences, for they both proposed a National Catholic project for the creation of imperialist minds, meant to maintain an immobile social and economic order through the promise of national rebirth and prosperity under a renewed empire and a common national mission. Both regimes pursued the formation of a new generation of Portuguese and Spaniards that would be united under the banner of their “civilizing” and catechizing “vocation,” supposedly mirroring the golden age of Iberian conquests and marching towards a God-mandated historical roles of their nations. This ideological conditioning was then coupled with a radical reduction of practical instruction to the bare minimum necessary for the reproduction of their productive systems, prioritizing the inculcation of ideas over practical skills, a bucolic idealization of the nation over urban growth and industrialization, and the respect and maintenance of social hierarchies over any aspirations to mobility.Histor
The hidden toll: Mental health consequences of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the US workforce
No full textWork-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a leading cause of workplace injuries, particularly in high-risk, physically demanding jobs. MSDs can worsen mental health by contributing to stress, anxiety, depression, and even job loss. Conversely, poor mental health can increase the likelihood of developing or worsening MSDs. Any type of MSD increased the risk of depression by 65 times (odds ratio = 65) (Alajmi et al., 2022), nearly 40% of adults with musculoskeletal pain also experience persistent anxiety, and 20% battle with depression (Office of National Statistics, 2021). According to the National Safety Council, MSDs account for one-third of all workers compensation costs and almost 400,000 injuries every year. Direct costs (medical costs) related to MSDs estimated at 20 billion annually. Indirect costs (lost wages, etc.) between 45-54 billion annually (ErgoHOWL 2021). This study explores the link between MSDs and mental health challenges, emphasizing the need for integrated workplace interventions. This research highlights MSD risk amplifiers and mitigators, helping shape workplace interventions that improve access to physical and mental healthcare.Engineering TechnologyOrganization, Workforce, and Leadership Studie
Biomedical Research Training at Texas State: Preparing Bobcats for doctoral programs in the biomedical sciences
Get PDFNo abstract prepared.Chemistry and Biochemistr
Engineering Solutions for Local Scour: A Computational Fluid Dynamics Study on SEAHIVE
No full textBridge scour, the erosion of sediment around bridge piers caused by turbulent water flow, is a serious problem for infrastructure stability, especially in areas with extreme hydraulic conditions worsened by climate change. This study explores the use of SEAHIVE, a bio-inspired design, as an innovative countermeasure for reducing local scour around bridge piers. Numerical simulations were conducted using the SedFOAM solver in OpenFOAM to evaluate the effectiveness of single and grouped SEAHIVE configurations in reducing scour. The results show that single SEAHIVE configurations, with varying perforation patterns can reduce scour depth. Specifically, the fully perforated SEAHIVE configuration results in a 28.19 % reduction in scour depth compared to the Control Case and a 20.14 % reduction when perforations are in a closed zigzag pattern. Additionally, the analysis of bed topography shows that scour is more evenly distributed, and turbulence intensity is lower around the SEAHIVE. The analysis of flow dynamics around the SEAHIVE elements suggests a reduction in localized vortex formation, which directly contributes to reduced scour near the pier. The study also finds that grouped SEAHIVE, when placed laterally, enhance performance further by leading to a greater reduction in scour and more uniform sediment displacement. When the SEAHIVE is positioned 8 cm away from the cylindrical pier, the resulting scour is reduced by approximately 38.2%, and the velocity distribution is reduced by 25.2%, compared to the single SEAHIVE. The grouped configurations weaken vortex formation, improve flow dissipation, and lead to smoother bed contours, highlighting the potential of SEAHIVE systems as proactive solutions for mitigating scour in flood-prone regions. Based on the results of this study, the use of innovative scour mitigation techniques, such as SEAHIVE, instead of traditional solutions like riprap and collars, presents a more sustainable and efficient approach for engineers in enhancing bridge pier stability and reducing long-term maintenance costs.Engineerin
Integrating Digital Twin Technology During the Concept Development Phase of the Product Development Process
No full textThe thesis aims to establish a methodology for the integration of Digital Twin (DT) technology in the product design and development process for engineered consumer products that are physical and have moderate complexity. The methodology, which will be referred to as Design for Digital Twins (DfDT), will propose tasks that need to be added to the conventional product development process (PDP) to identify and simultaneously develop any focused and/or comprehensive DTs associated with the physical product. The work will start by briefly considering the product planning phase that precedes the PDP, and then will primarily focus on the concept development phase of the design process. The DfDT methodology takes into consideration the use of existing technologies such as 3D scanning, 3D printing, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and Machine Learning (ML), which can support different DfDT activities. An important goal is that the DfDT methodology will be able to guide the development of virtual models that can help to make informed decisions about the product early in the development cycle. In the post-product lunch, DT surrogates, trained on FE simulation data, offer faster, cost-effective predictive insights with high accuracy can be developed based in the information collected in the DfDT and the PDP process. This advancement reduces computational overhead during post-launch stages, enhancing the practicality of DTs. An electric scooter is used to demonstrate the application of key aspects of the proposed DfDT methodology. The outcomes of the research enable product development teams to harness Digital Twins for more efficient, innovative, and successful product development.Engineerin
Advancement of renewable energy via organic chemistry
No full textThe quickly evolving and vast landscape of renewable energy technology has seen improvements, particularly in solar panels and batteries. However, many current technologies are limited by costly, limited, and potentially hazardous materials. Recent developments via organic chemistry allow affordable, abundant, and highly tunable chemicals. Current technology, such as lithium batteries, are restricted by maximum energy density thresholds, high flammability, and finite functionalization capabilities. This research is focused on azobenzene, which is a photochromic, affordable organic compound that can be functionalized by chemistry. Our research team has created a library of azobenzene derivatives for the application of solar thermal fuels. Solar thermal fuels are chemicals that can store solar energy as thermal energy. Another project that I am currently working on is azobenzene batteries. Azobenzene can be implemented as a replacement in batteries for lithium at the anode or as a replacement for cobalt at the cathode. Furthermore, it has also been applied by polymeric synthesis embedded into carbon nanotubes for applications at electrodes and organic photovoltaics. Our studies aim to focus on leveraging azobenzene derivatives to improve and change the future of renewable energy.Chemistry and BiochemistryMaterials Science, Engineering, and Commercializatio
AI/ML Pipeline for Predicting Diabetic Readmissions From CMS OASIS
No full textObjective: Assess the impact of feature encoding and data balancing on hospital readmission prediction using the CMS OASIS dataset.
Dataset: Center of Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) OASIS, a standardized CMS dataset used to evaluate home health care quality and patient outcomes.
Methodology: Compared Binary and Frequency encoding across balanced and unbalanced datasets using multiple feature selection methods and gradient boosting models.
Findings:
• Feature Selection: RidgeClassifier identified the most features, while GradientBoostingClassifier and XGBClassifier selected the fewest.
• Model Performance: Binary Encoding with data balancing minimized classification errors, reducing False Positives (FP) and False Negatives (FN).
• Trade-offs: Frequency Encoding lowered FN with balanced data but increased FP. Data balancing improved True Positives (TP) across models while maintaining stable True Negatives (TN).
• Conclusion: Binary Encoding with data balancing is the most effective approach, offering valuable insights for healthcare feature engineering and readmission prediction.Computer SciencePhysical Therap
Community in the Face of Exclusion: An Exploratory Study on Sense of Community Among the Unhoused in Austin, Texas Post Proposition B
No full textThis exploratory study seeks to establish an understanding of how unhoused people conceptualize their sense of community and how Prop B has affected their sense of community. Throughout human society, people have formed a variety of communities; from families to states, which we enter without much agency, to more abstract communities that meet specific needs such as political communities or trade unions (Butkus 2014). McMillan and Chavis’ (1986) conception for sense of community serves as a useful theoretical framework for understanding how the unhoused conceptualize their sense of community. McMillan and Chavis (1986) defined sense of community based on four elements: membership, influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, and shared emotional connectedness (p. 9). This study uses qualitative methods to gather information through semi-structured interviews with unhoused individuals living within the city of Austin. The findings presented in this paper show how some unhoused people living in Austin maintain a sense of community while others lack a sense of community all together.Sociolog