University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
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UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING THE DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE STRONGBACK STRUCTURAL SYSTEM
No full textThis dissertation investigates the dynamic behavior and performance enhancement of structural systems equipped with strongback mechanisms under seismic loading. Strongback systems are designed to mitigate soft-story collapse by promoting a uniform story drift profile. While these systems offer promising improvements to seismic resilience, important questions remain regarding their robustness and effectiveness under varying structural and seismic conditions. To address these gaps, a comprehensive investigation is conducted using both experimental and numerical approaches. This study first examines whether strongbacks can maintain their effectiveness in the presence of vertical stiffness irregularities and evaluates the impact of damper arrangement—distributed versus concentrated—on structural performance. This dissertation then explores the behavior of segmental strongbacks, in which the spine is divided by a mid-height joint to reduce internal force demands and floor accelerations in taller buildings, with particular focus on the role of joint stiffness. Finally, the research investigates the integration of inerters—devices that generate force proportional to relative acceleration—both as standalone systems and in combination with strongbacks, to assess their potential in enhancing seismic performance or serving as alternative control strategies. Through a combination of shake table testing and numerical simulations, this dissertation aims to clarify the mechanics, effectiveness, and design implications of various strongback configurations. By characterizing the interaction between system components, modal deformation patterns, and seismic input, the study helps to develop additional understanding and improvement of strongback-based systems. Ultimately, the findings contribute to advancing earthquake-resistant design by equipping structural engineers with deeper insight and greater flexibility in applying strongback solutions to mitigate seismic risks in buildings
Latines are not homogenous: A latent profile analysis of adverse childhood experiences and social determinants of health to assess health symptom endorsement
No full textHealth disparities disproportionately impact Latines in the United States (NIH, 2017). Trauma is one factor known to contribute to health disparities (Sowder et al., 2018). Trauma can include interpersonal level (e.g., adverse childhood experiences) and/or community level experiences (social determinants of health). In research, Latines are commonly erroneously considered a homogenous group despite vast differences in sociocultural identities (Cardeña et al., 2021). The current study expands Latine trauma literature by using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA; Spurk et al., 2020) to 1) investigate heterogeneity in combinations of interpersonal- and community-level trauma exposures and 2) examine how profiles relate to health symptom endorsement. LPA yielded four distinct profiles (Profile 1 lowest interpersonal – lowest community; Profile 2 medium interpersonal – high community; Profile 3 highest interpersonal – highest community; Profile 4 high interpersonal – low community). Profiles 1, 2, and 3, consistent with prior literature, demonstrated an incremental relationship whereby higher interpersonal trauma paired with higher community level trauma. Profile 4’s deviation from previous findings with high interpersonal combined with low community trauma exposures. Profile 3 endorsed significantly higher physical symptoms compared to Profile 1. All four Profiles endorsed mild symptoms on the PHQ-4. Trans individuals were more likely to be in Profile 3. There were no other significant differences between profiles. Findings suggest a need to continue exploring heterogeneity in Latine samples, combining levels of trauma exposures to assess impact on health, and pursue future avenues of trauma prevention and intervention work
“I\u27m Someone Who Makes Sense to My Therapist, Without Me Needing to Contort Myself”: A Therapeutic Dyad Study with QTBIPOC Clients and Their Therapists
No full textLittle research has evaluated the efficacy of therapy for queer and/or trans Black people, Indigenous people, and other People of Color (QTBIPOC). Due to their unique experiences at the intersection of racism, heterosexism, and/or transphobia (see Crenshaw, 1989; Cyrus, 2017), therapy has been suggested as one of many possible ways for QTBIPOC individuals to receive mental health support (Sutter & Perrin, 2016). Although therapy has the potential to be beneficial for this group, QTBIPOC clients also indicate that therapy has the potential to cause further harm (Arora et al., 2022). While a client’s perspective can provide meaningful information about therapy experiences, a clinician\u27s perspective can help label specific interventions that are utilized. Both perspectives are necessary to comprehensively understand effective processes of therapy and the therapeutic relationship. This study aimed to answer the following research questions: What are effective therapeutic practices and interventions, as perceived by QTBIPOC clients and their therapists? What factors, as perceived by both members of the therapeutic dyad, strengthen the relationship between QTBIPOC clients and their therapists? Participants were three client-therapist dyads with an established therapeutic relationship. Interviews were conducted separately with each member of the therapeutic dyad. Utilizing Levitt’s (2021) critical constructivist grounded theory, the following core category was identified: By leaning into authenticity, challenging existing frameworks, and collaborating, therapists can dismantle power dynamics and promote QTBIPOC healing. The five categories that comprise this core category are: 1) stability in therapy and the therapeutic relationship is fostered by approachability, 2) therapist authenticity is a powerful intervention to facilitate healing, connection, and hope in the face of systemic oppression, 3) therapy should be client-led, but not laborious, 4) holding the complexity and nuances of QTBIPOC experiences requires continual attention to systemic oppression, and 5) therapists must go beyond the therapy space to support the well-being of QTBIPOC individuals. The findings of this study provide important directions for supporting the well-being of QTBIPOC individuals by progressing existing research on therapist authenticity and informing ways to deconstruct systemic oppression in the therapy room. Practice and advocacy implications are discussed, along with suggestions for future directions
Petitions and the Fight for Legal Rights in the Later Roman Empire, 200-450 CE
No full textThis dissertation explores why individuals across the Roman Empire petitioned emperors between 200 and 450 CE, focusing on petitioners’ everyday concerns and motivations for seeking imperial intervention. Drawing on surviving petitions and imperial responses, this project examines how Roman subjects turned to emperors and imperial officials to resolve disputes, address injustices, and protect personal interests. Petitioning emerges as a practical response to specific local problems, such as property disputes or divorce, but also as a political act with broader implications. By appealing to the emperor, petitioners actively tested the accessibility and responsiveness of imperial authority, while simultaneously reinforcing its legitimacy through their participation in imperial legal and administrative structures. The act of petitioning is thus part of a larger discourse on imperial authority, where everyday grievances intersected with broader questions of justice, obligation, and power. Through this lens, the dissertation reveals how imperial authority was not simply imposed from above but was continually shaped through the interactions between emperors and their officials with subjects who sought no just relief, but recognition and redress within the imperial framework
Examining chick-a-dee call characteristics as a novel behavioral syndrome in mixed flocks of tufted titmice (Baeolophus bicolor) and Carolina chickadees (Poecile Carolinensis)
No full textAnimal communication and the study of nonhuman personality (including behavioral syndromes) are popular fields of study. However, few studies have combined the two fields. The majority of the studies that do combine the two fields, moreover, examine communication as a subcomponent of the behavioral type in question, such as boldness or exploration. These results are variable and suggest that while communicative signals are often repeatable, they are not always perfectly correlated with other behavioral syndromes. An alternative possibility is that communication is a standalone behavioral syndrome that correlates with other behavioral types. If communication is a unique behavioral syndrome, this would help explain variation in observed behaviors, including suboptimal behavior such as a lack of communication. This dissertation examines communication as a novel behavioral syndrome in two species of closely related songbirds, Carolina chickadees (Poecile carolinensis) and tufted titmice (Baeolophus bicolor). Communicative behaviors in these species were examined in several ways. First, the overall repeatability of call characteristics was calculated after a week of recording calls made by conspecific pairs of birds in non-manipulated contexts. Second, a new set of birds were each recorded in two different social contexts: in conspecific pairs and in small mixed-species groups. The calls were then compared for repeatability and consistency across social conditions. During this study, the birds’ behavior was also measured in a variety of behavioral assays, such as the novel environment test, to compare communicative behavior with other behavioral syndromes. Lastly, communicative outputs from the first two studies were combined and compared with each individual’s relative dominance status. The results from these three studies suggest that individual chickadees and titmice differ from conspecifics in call rate, note use, call type use, and call complexity. These calls are generally repeatable within an individual across different social contexts. The call characteristics that were investigated in these studies were not related to other behavioral syndromes, and only some characteristics were correlated with relative dominance status. The strong repeatability of these calls and the lack of clear relationship between communication and other behavioral syndromes and characteristics suggest that communication may be a novel behavioral syndrome
Development of a Career Intervention for Women in a Transitional Housing Program
No full textThis exploratory case study investigates the lived experiences of group facilitators and group participants who engaged in a five-week career intervention that was grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994) and the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT; Duffy et al., 2016). The career intervention was developed specifically for women living in a transitional housing program in the Southeast. Transitional housing programs provide support primarily for individuals who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV), homelessness, and past incarceration. These programs were developed to provide housing and tangible resources to members of these populations for a limited time until these individuals can locate stable housing (Clark et al., 2019). Systemic barriers also affect individuals who traditionally occupy transitional housing programs. For example, those who have experienced past incarceration may have difficulty obtaining employment due to a felon status. There is a great need for career programming to support individuals from these backgrounds in their career endeavors. Data in this project included a focus group with program participants, individual interviews with program facilitators, and weekly reflections written by the facilitators. Participants shared how the intervention personally affected them, as well as overall outcomes of the intervention. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), five themes were identified: relational connections, barriers and supports related to career outcomes, volition, self-awareness, and program facilitation and planning. The results highlight implications for practice, advocacy, and research to further address the barriers and strengths of individuals living in transitional housing programs and provide recommendations for future career intervention work
The Examination of Key Definitional Components of Bullying: Implication for Estimates of Bullying Prevalence and Youth Wellbeing
No full textMuch is known about the impact of bullying victimization on the well-being of children and adolescents. However, inconsistencies in the measurement and conceptualization of bullying hinder understanding of the unique impact of bullying behavior, relative to other types of aggressive behavior, on the psychosocial development of victims. This dissertation sought to identify whether measuring the key definitional components of bullying (i.e., chronicity, intentionality, power imbalance) results in identifying distinct groups of victimized youth. This study also examined whether victimization groups, created by assessing levels of victimization frequency, intentionality, and power differentials, confer differential risk for youth well-being, including internalizing distress, aggressive behavior, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and disruptions in social functioning. Additionally, the current study examined if the relationships between victimization groups and all criterion variables varied as a function of two cognitive attributions, self-blame and other-blame, as well as gender. Participants were 151 adolescents recruited from middle schools in the southeastern United States. Three groups of victimized youth were identified including non-victims, peer victimized participants, and bullied youth. Statistically significant differences were observed across victimization group comparisons. Self-blame moderated the relationship between non-victims and bullied victims on depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Self-blame moderated the relationship between peer victimized participants and bullied victims on depression and peer relationship quality. Other-blame moderated the relationship between non-victims and bullied victims on depression. Implications for assessment of bullying as well as the impact of cognitive attributions and gender in the context of bullying are discussed
Understanding Social Engineering Attacks from Attacker Behaviors to Defensive Strategies
No full textPhishing attacks continue to grow in prevalence and sophistication, creating fake websites that mimic legitimate services to steal credentials from victims. This “cat-and-mouse game” sees attackers continuously evolving with new evasion techniques, making quick detection the key challenge. This defense presents a comprehensive analysis of the phishing attack lifecycle across five domains: website creation, domain registration, regional attack variations, defensive mechanisms, and post-detection behaviors. Our research spans multiple years and millions of phishing URLs. Our findings reveal that phishing websites typically use outdated resources and lack security protections. Most phishing domains are maliciously registered rather than compromised, with attackers preferring cheaper TLDs and targeting specific brands. Global detection mechanisms often miss regionally targeted campaigns, particularly those in non-English contexts. Defensive measures show significant gaps, with widely used blocklists exhibiting substantial detection delays compared to specialized services. Website security practices remain inadequate, with virtually no sites following all recommended security guidelines. After detection, phishing websites typically remain operational for approximately two days, with those employing frequent visual changes persisting longer. This research contributes actionable insights for improving phishing defenses through earlier detection, vulnerability exploitation, and enhanced security practices
Beyond Mentorship: Retaining BIPOC Faculty in Counselor Education
No full textThis dissertation comprises two manuscripts: a PRISMA review and a Delphi study. Both manuscripts focus on retention strategies for BIPOC faculty. BIPOC faculty in counselor education have historically encountered systemic barriers and negative workplace experiences that adversely affect their retention and overall well-being. As representation of BIPOC faculty continues to grow, the field must move beyond acknowledging disparities and begin implementing intentional, evidence-informed strategies to promote their success. The first manuscript involved a PRISMA-guided systematic review of literature published between 2015 and 2024, using PsycINFO, ERIC, and Scopus databases. Twenty-four articles were selected and thematically analyzed. While the literature documents pervasive challenges faced by BIPOC faculty, including isolation, tokenization, and a lack of support, few empirically tested retention strategies have been identified. Most existing recommendations remain conceptual, with recurring themes emphasizing mentorship, institutional support, and campus climate.
To build on these findings, the second manuscript employed a Delphi method to achieve expert consensus on activities that could enhance the retention of BIPOC faculty in counselor education. A panel of 20 experts, consisting of BIPOC counselor educators who had been promoted at least once and academic leaders who had successfully supported BIPOC faculty, participated in a three-round process. The panel reached consensus on 65 activities, organized into nine key categories: mentorship, community, department culture, administrative support, financial support, professional development, BIPOC wellness, individual perseverance, and DEI policy. These consensus-based strategies move the field beyond theoretical recommendations toward actionable, field-informed practices. Together, these findings provide a critical foundation for counselor education programs seeking to improve the retention and advancement of BIPOC faculty. This research highlights the need for rigorous empirical evaluation of retention strategies and offers a practical framework to inform institutional policy and practice
Trying to Be Like Jesus: Processes, Influences and Outcomes of Heterosexual Mormon Ally Identity Development in Utah
No full textResearch has suggested that the presence of supportive allies can have a positive impact on the mental health and well-being of sexual minorities. Although existing research has explored how individuals come to be allies of sexual minorities, less is known about how allyship develops in highly homogenous conservative cultural and religious contexts where pressures to conform to anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes may be particularly strong. As such, the current study sought to understand the process, outcomes, and influences of heterosexual ally identity development among current and former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (colloquially referred to in the literature as Mormons) who live in the unique cultural and religious environment of Utah. Through utilization of constructivist grounded theory methods (Charmaz, 2000, 2006, 2008), interviews and allyship timelines of 15 participants who identified as heterosexual, current or former members of the Church, and as allies to sexual minority people were analyzed to construct a seven-stage iterative Model of Heterosexual Mormon Ally Identity Development. In this model, allies moved from a state of naïveté to allyship through experiencing catalyst events, interpreting those events as problematic, negotiating identity crises, exploring their beliefs, and resolving to commit to being an ally. We observed that our participants negotiated various ways of understanding and engaging in allyship (which we refer to as allyship statuses) within their lived contexts. Barriers and supports identified by the participants to this process are shared, as well as implications and future directions for this work