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Exploring Secondary Content and Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Self-Efficacy in Supporting the Literacy Needs of Long-Termed Emergent Bilinguals: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry
No full textThis dissertation employed a mixed-methods convergent design, incorporating survey data and semi-structured interviews to investigate the self-efficacy of high school teachers in content areas and Career and Technical Education (CTE) towards their perceived abilities to support emergent bilingual students, particularly in content-specific literacy.
Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Bandura\u27s (1977) self-efficacy theory and Dweck\u27s (2008) growth mindset, this study explores how educators\u27 perceptions of their abilities impact their instructional practices and student outcomes.
Findings reveal a need for more training and resources to increase student engagement, which impacts academic outcomes and attendance and calls for comprehensive reforms in teacher preparation, professional development, and bilingual education policies to support emergent bilinguals at the high school level
Two Essays on Finance and Culture
No full textThis dissertation consists of two essays on finance and culture. The first essay examines the relationship between corporate quality culture and product recalls. The results show that firms with a stronger quality culture are less likely to have product recalls. This relationship is stronger for firms with more female directors and higher levels of managerial ability. We also find that for firms in high-tech industries, the impact of quality culture on product failure is more profound. The results are robust to various endogeneity tests and alternative models. Our findings support that a firm’s quality culture significantly influences product success and consumer well-being.
The second essay examines the relationship between social tolerance and firm innovation. We find that firms located in states with higher levels of social tolerance are more innovative. We also find that firms in areas with higher degrees of social tolerance attain higher diversity scores. In addition, the relationship between social tolerance and firm innovation is stronger for firms located in states with higher levels of social capital and for firms with weaker diversity initiatives. Collectively, our findings support the notion that social tolerance, representing the openness and inclusiveness of a local community, plays a significant role in firm innovation
Quantification of Blue Carbon Within the Marine Animal Forest on the Rio Grande Valley Artificial Reef
No full textThe protection and enhancement of coastal ecosystems provides a number of benefits such as heightened biodiversity, increased fisheries, and enhanced carbon capture (Yeemin et al., 2024). The study of blue carbon ecosystems has expanded rapidly in the last two decades since the term was coined in 2009 (Lovelock & Duarte, 2019). The most well-known blue carbon ecosystems include vegetation-dominated ecosystems such as seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and mangrove forests (Howard et. al., 2014). Prior studies have overlooked Marine Animal Forests (MAF) ability to capture carbon, until recent studies on soft coral (Coppari et al., 2019) and sponge (Rix et al., 2020) carbon capture. The goal of the present study was to quantify the blue carbon in a nearshore artificial reefs MAF and to establish the carbon content of common taxa. The MAF within the Rio Grande Valley Artificial Reef (RGV Reef) included 8 major groups of snowflake coral, sea whips, sea fans, stony coral, barnacles, sponges, bryozoans, and biofilms. Carbon analyses combined with surface area coverage estimates demonstrated the MAF within the RGV Reef holds approximately 4.5 tons of blue carbon. The highest carbon concentrations were measured in soft corals and sponges at 10.41±1.10% and 5.46±1.60% by dry weight, respectively
Integrating Satellite Data and Low-Cost Sensors to Assess the Impact of Sugarcane Stubble Burning on Air Quality in the Rio Grande Valley, TX, USA.
No full textBurning is a common method for the disposal of agricultural biomass residue. Studies show a relation between stubble burning and local air quality, yet research on its effects in the Rio Grande Valley is limited. This project, therefore, utilizes MODIS-Combined, VIIRS-NPP, ABI-GOES-East aerosol data in combination with PM2.5 data collected continuously from Purple Air Monitors that were deployed at about 20 different locations in the Valley to accurately capture the pollutant trends both temporally and spatially. The 24-hour PM2.5 levels are linked to those from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Continuous Ambient Monitoring Stations (CAMSs), highlighting both temporal and spatial variability
Outpatient substance abuse treatment completion rates for racial-ethnic minorities during the Great Recession
No full textThere has been minimal research linking the effects on racial-ethnic minorities’ health outcomes, particularly research focused on racial-ethnic minorities seeking outpatient substance abuse treatment in the United States. The Great Recession from December 2007 to June 2009 in the United States provides the backdrop against the completion of substance abuse treatments among racial-ethnic minorities that may be associated with the impacts on users’ social realities. We utilized data from the 2006–2011 Treatment Episode Datasets–Discharge (TEDS-D) dataset which collects data on outpatient substance abuse treatment institutions throughout the United States. The substance abuse treatment completion rates were higher prior to the Great Recession and lower following the Great Recession. Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to complete substance abuse treatment, while other minority groups such as Non-Hispanic Blacks, were less likely to do so. Clients in the Northeast and West regions were more likely to successfully complete substance abuse treatment than those in the South. These findings have implications for impacting outpatient substance abuse treatment completion rates following the Great Recession to reduce racial-ethnic disparities which were impacted by region. Even amid an economic recession, treatment for substance abuse should continue to be a top concern
The Haunted Sioux Country: Voices, Spirits and Apparitions among the Lakota of Wounded Knee
No full textLinguistic Strategies of Trauma and Resistance: Code-switching,Temporality, and Collective Identity in Karen Cheung\u27s The Impossible City
No full textChaotic behaviour, bifurcation, and stability analysis of the time-fractional phi-four model using the Hirota bilinear form
No full textThis study investigates the complex dynamics of the time-fractional Phi-four model, a nonlinear PDE that incorporates memory effects through fractional derivatives. To analyze this model, we employ the Hirota bilinear method to derive a variety of exact analytical solutions, including one-wave, two-wave, three-wave, and W-shaped soliton solutions, as well as lump-type solutions such as lumps, one-lump-one-stripe, and one-lump-one-soliton configurations. We conduct a detailed analysis of the system’s chaotic behaviour by calculating Lyapunov exponents, performing sensitivity analysis, and constructing bifurcation diagrams, which reveal transitions between stable, periodic, and chaotic states. The results demonstrate that the fractional-order derivative crucially influences system dynamics by introducing memory effects that can stabilize or destabilize wave propagation. A linear stability analysis confirms the conditions under which these soliton and lump solutions remain structurally stable against perturbations. These findings advance the understanding of nonlinear fractional systems by illustrating their capacity for rich wave interactions and chaotic dynamics
Assessing the use of Marker-less Motion Capture Systems for Neurological Disorders in Indoor vs Outdoor Settings.
Full text linkBackground: Marker-less motion capture systems have improved the assessment of human movement by allowing for a non-invasive, affordable, quantitative data collection useful in clinical settings. However, their use in real-world community care settings is largely underexplored, presenting a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between controlled laboratory environments and the complexity of providing care in diverse, everyday contexts. This systematic review examines the differential use of MMC systems across real-world indoor environments (clinics, homes, living labs) and outdoor settings (public walkways, community spaces), with a focus on their application to neurological disorders such as stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted using databases including PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE (NIH) and IEEE for studies published since 2010. Search terms utilized included marker-less motion capture, indoor, outdoor gait neurodegeneration, and related phrases. The initial search yielded 63 articles. After removing duplicates, 41 articles remained for screening. Following a detailed review of titles and abstracts against predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 7 articles were selected for the final full-text analysis. The papers were analyzed to identify key theme of indoor versus outdoor applications.
Results: Indoor MMC systems demonstrated high reliability and ease of integration in home and clinical settings. Gait velocity measurements yielded ICCs between 0.88 and 0.94, and step length errors were less than 2.5 cm. Upper limb motion capture achieved joint angle ICCs of ~0.87. Usability of these systems were high for both patients and clinicians with scores exceeding 80/100. These systems are also able to be integrated with telehealth platforms, offering consistent data capture under controlled lighting and spatial conditions. In contrast, outdoor MMC systems provided the advantage of ecological validity but showed decreased precision. Joint tracking mean absolute errors ranged from 4.2 to 6.7 cm, and lighting variability, occlusions, and background interference contributed to a 15–25% reduction in data fidelity. Temporal alignment issues resulted in errors up to 100 ms.
Conclusion: Indoor MMC systems currently offer improved measurement accuracy, reliability, and user integration for neurorehabilitation applications, making them more feasible for clinical and home-based deployment. Outdoor systems, while technically limited, provide unique insights into real-world movement patterns that are essential for functional outcome assessments. Assessing the improvements of computer vision, AI-driven occlusion, and sensor fusion can help bridge the gap between the systems. Future research should focus on longitudinal validation of these systems with comparison to clinical metrics to improve equity and inform scalable community-based rehabilitation models
The Impact of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on the Severity of Alzheimer\u27s Disease in Hispanic Populations in the Rio Grande Valley: A Pilot Retrospective Chart Review
Full text linkBackground: Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is becoming more prevalent worldwide, leading to a growing demand to understand the impact of risk factors on disease progression. Notably, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) has emerged as a significant risk factor for the development of AD, given the pathophysiological role of insulin resistance in cognitive impairment. In particular, the impact of type 2 DM on AD development and severity may be heightened in Hispanic populations due to the high prevalence of both conditions in this community. Here, we sought to understand the role of type 2 DM in AD severity in a Hispanic population from the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), a community wherein 91% of the population identifies as Hispanic.
Methods: We conducted a pilot retrospective chart review from January 2018 to March 2024 at UTHealth RGV for patients with AD who self-identified as Hispanic, Mexican, or Latino. Medical charts were evaluated for a diagnosis of type 2 DM, and demographics were recorded. We categorized the included charts into two groups: AD with DM and AD without DM. For all charts, the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) score was manually determined from the electronic medical record. T-tests were used to evaluate differences between the two groups.
Results: Forty patients met the inclusion criteria for our study. Eleven medical charts were excluded (72.5% analysis rate) due to insufficient documentation for GDS scoring. No significant differences were found in baseline demographics between the AD with DM and AD without DM groups. GDS scores were not statistically different between groups (p = 0.152), although a medium effect size was observed (d = 0.52, 95% CI (-0.18, 1.23)), with higher GDS scores in the AD with DM group.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest a trend toward more severe AD in Hispanic patients with type 2 DM. Based on these results, we recommend the development of standardized assessment tools for AD, particularly for use in small community clinics, to improve the evaluation of disease progression. Improved clinical documentation and assessment may help identify risk factors that allow for earlier diagnosis or preventive interventions