Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
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Comparative statistical analysis of sea surface temperature time series modeling in the Gulf of Mexico
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mathematics.This work provides an analysis of sea surface temperature (SST) data in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and compares modeling methods to assess their performance through statistical simulation. The GoM is a region of global economic and environmental importance, including the notable Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary’s coral habitats. However, the area has largely not been focused on in terms of advanced SST modeling. The objective of this work is to provide insight into SST variability in the GoM by modeling time series data, concentrating on seasonal patterns and the overall linear warming trend. In the study, varying methods compared include a dynamic seasonal mean model, a dynamic sinusoidal regression model, a cyclic spline model, and a seasonal mean regression model with sandwich estimator. At the 95% nominal confidence level, methods ignoring the autocorrelation of error terms maintain empirical coverage between 60% and 80% to capture the linear yearly warming trends in the simulation. The recommended modeling approach, a dynamic sinusoidal regression model, provides such coverage of approximately 91.6%. It also offers a balance between accuracy, simplicity, and continuity, especially for frequently collected data. Analysis estimates the East Flower Garden Bank has an annual warming trend of approximately 0.028 ± 0.016°C. This comparative analysis of modeling techniques contributes to a better understanding of SST dynamics in this critical marine ecosystem.Mathematics and StatisticsCollege of Scienc
Perceptions of principals regarding their principal preparation program
No full textA dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership.This dissertation examines the perceptions of Texas principals regarding how adequately they felt their preparation program trained them for the principalship. Across the U.S., variations in curricula and preparation exist in principal preparation programs. Varied preparation result in leaders who are not prepared to face the demanding challenges of the principalship. This quantitative study used the perceptions of principals who have gone through these preparation programs to analyze this problem. This study found a lack of variation in preparation and an overall high level of perceptions of adequate preparation in all eight NELP Standards. Preparation programs should continue in their current methods of aligning their curricula to best practices and following national standards.Educational Leadership, Curriculum & InstructionCollege of Education and Human Developmen
Teacher stress, hope, and agency for the future - A narrative inquiry
No full textA dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership.Teacher stress has long been a prevalent concern and research topic and was recently compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted considerable scholarly interest, few researchers have sought to understand the actual experiences of teachers framed by the teacher’s well-being and hopefulness. The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of how teachers who taught during the COVID-19 pandemic narrate their experiences of hope and well-being. More specifically, the research aimed to explore how hope is reflected in three individuals’ stories from a challenging time, framed by the COVID-19 pandemic, in their professional teaching careers. This narrative inquiry provided three PK-12 teachers an avenue in which they could explore and reflect on their personal and professional lives while teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, these teachers were able to construct and visualize their goals, pathways, and agency for the future using a vision board. This study showcased how they activated hope during a highly stressful critical event in their profession and how it related to their well-being. The findings of this study were represented in a narrative form using a genre known as Bildungsroman. The Bildungsroman were used to highlight the evolution of the teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the teacher’s reflection of how they used hope to overcome obstacles to achieve their goals and their overall well-being through the pandemic. The intended audience for this research is educational leaders and mental health professionals working in the educational setting.Educational Leadership, Curriculum & InstructionCollege of Education and Human Developmen
Commuters: A waterbird provides a new view of how species may utilize cities and wildlands
No full textTraditional classifications of vertebrates’ responses to urbanization fail to capture the behaviour of those that rely on both urban and wildland resources for population persistence. Here, we use the wood stork (Mycteria americana), a species that makes daily foraging trips up to 74 km away from its nest, as an example of a previously unrecognized response to urbanization. We monitored nests and sampled diets at stork colonies in south Florida (USA) during 2014–2020 to investigate how storks use urban habitats. We found that urban development now comprises up to 51.6% of the land cover within the 30-km core foraging area surrounding colonies and that storks access alternative prey types within these urban areas. Our results also showed that urban-nesting storks outperformed wildland-nesting storks when the hydrological condition of the wetlands was suboptimal for foraging. Though storks still require healthy wetlands for population persistence, urban habitat benefitted storks when hydrological patterns were not ideal for prey production in wildlands. This ‘commuter’ response to urbanization, whereby individuals opt to utilize both urban and wildland resources within short time periods, may apply to other vertebrates with large home ranges.This project was supported by the Florida Department of Transportation (BDV 27-922-02), the Waterbird Society’s Kushlan Award (2019) and the Harte Research Institute’s Crutchfield Fellowship Endowment (2021–2022)
Physiological assessment of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) across a salinity gradient
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Marine Biology.Common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are important bioindicators of ecosystem welfare and can inhabit environments with variable natural salinities. Anthropogenically-induced climate change exacerbates natural fluctuations in salinity and magnifies physiological imbalances in marine species. Bottlenose dolphins are well-suited model organisms to study the effects of environmental disturbances because they accumulate indices of stress in their blubber. Prolonged low salinity (< 10 ppt) exposure in dolphins elevates adrenal steroid hormones (i.e., aldosterone, cortisol) and promotes lesion development. However, the tolerances of and consequences for dolphins in hypersaline systems remain unknown. I assessed the physiological condition of three dolphin stocks in the Gulf of Mexico inhabiting areas of different natural salinities: Mississippi Sound, MS (0 – 30 ppt), Redfish Bay, TX ( 22 – 35 ppt), and Upper Laguna Madre, TX (37 + ppt). Steroid hormones were measured in remotely biopsied dolphin blubber using high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Skin lesions were assessed using images of the dorsal fins and bodies of dolphins photographed from a research boat. There is a positive relationship between cortisol and salinity, indicating high salinity may impose physiological stress in dolphins. Testosterone concentrations in males are seasonal, with peaks in the fall and winter months. Progesterone levels in females were highest in the spring and summer and were indicative of gestation events. Skin lesions are most prominent on dolphins in the fall and winter, and a negative correlation between lesion prevalence and water temperature suggests cold water has a strong effect on epidermal integrity and lesion susceptibility in dolphins.
I present here the first physiological assessment of free-ranging dolphins in a natural hypersaline bay. The dolphin health data collected from this research can help fill national data gaps for GoM dolphin stocks outlined by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fill local data gaps for RB and ULM dolphin stocks, inform coastal communities of local marine ecosystem health and potential impact on human health by utilizing dolphins as bioindicators, and contribute to the understanding of how global climate change impacts the ability of marine organisms to adapt to highly variable environmental conditions. Additionally, this research will contribute to the planning of environmentally sustainable infrastructure (e.g., desalination plants) and promote environmental stewardship, ecotourism, and appreciation for natural resources.Life SciencesCollege of Scienc
Rodney James Mirabal with daughters
No full textRodney James Mirabal with his daughters Kimiko and Kassandra when they were littl
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz
No full textSigned photo from Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz to Thomas Goa
02 Cognitive Psychology: Module 4
Get PDFModule 4: Biological Components of Cognition
While working on his homework, Perry reaches for a hot cup of hot coca without breaking eye-contact with is reading. Ouch! Perry had missed the handle of the mug and touched the hot cup. "Why does that have to hurt so bad?" Perry wonders. He knows from what he had learned in school that the body and brain are able to communicate, but how does that happen? And how does it happen so quickly?
The brain is the most complex part of the human body. It is the center of consciousness and also controls all voluntary and involuntary movement and bodily functions. It communicates with each part of the body through the nervous system, a network of channels that carry electrochemical signals
High school girls in dance troupe
No full textHigh school girls in dance troupe preforming at the Galvan Ballroo
Kassandra Nicole Mirabal
No full textRodney James Mirabal's daughter Kassandra Nicole Mirabal in her Christmas outfi