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Does the National School Lunch Program foster healthy eating? a mixed method analysis of food selection and consumption in middle school
Get PDFAmerican children exhibit the highest rates of obesity among industrialized nations. To promote healthy eating, policy makers have revised standards for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which provides free and discounted lunches to nearly 30 million low-income children during the school year. Previous studies report mixed results on the physical health of students participating in the NSLP, but little research examines what students consume when provided a school lunch through the program. In this mixed-methods study, a real-time analysis of the nutritional content of food both selected and consumed during school lunch was performed by taking a random sample of students’ lunches (n = 141) over a 3-week period in an urban Title I middle school. Statistical results indicate that selected school lunches are low in nutritional density and high in sugar while food that students ultimately consumed was lower in nutritional value than selected lunches. Following these analyses, 20 interviews with middle school students attending Title 1 middle schools were conducted to develop an understanding of the patterns underlying the statistical results. Grounded in the Social Cognitive Theory (STC), qualitative interviews offered evidence that students pay attention to the appearance and taste of the various food offerings in the cafeteria. Students also seemingly understand what a healthy lunch consists of, but seem to be primarily selecting the lower nutrient-dense foods. Student home selections also do not seem to mirror those of their cafeteria selections. The qualitative findings suggest that cafeterias may be unknowingly contributing to student eating patterns by their presentation of certain foods, the lack of variety offered, along with the lack of autonomy when it comes to students seasoning their own foods. More research is needed to better understand how these variables may contribute to student health outcomes, yet this study begins to better explore how the production of food within school cafeterias may encourage or discourage consumption. This study contributes to the literature by using an analytical procedure that provides precise estimates of student consumption patterns during school lunch. It also offers in-depth analysis of the factors behind students’ meal selection and consumption choices. Future research is needed to understand how effective the NSLP is in its ability to increase nutrient dense food consumption
Artistic Score Study: Conductors' Approaches to Discovering and Communicating the Composer's Intent
Get PDFBy interviewing master conductors in the field, through this study I aim to find promising practices and approaches for conductors to create more meaningful and powerful emotional connections with the score to communicate a more complete image of the composer’s intent. It is my hope that these practices will begin to guide conductors of all levels toward more meaningful music-making experiences for themselves, the ensemble, and the audience. Utilizing a qualitative, multiple case study design, one-on-one semi-structured interviews with four long-term successful wind band conductors revealed personal methods of artistic score study providing insight into how conductors approach discovering and communicating the composer’s intent, as well as approaches to guiding the ensemble toward their interpretation.
Score study is a highly personal process conductors use to internalize the music, build a personal interpretation, and prepare for rehearsals and performance. One will quickly find limitations in conducting textbooks in approach to defining how conductors study a musical score in relation to revealing emotive content. As a conductor, it is vital to have a clear aural image of the music to be conducted; however, how does one uncover the emotive content of the score and synthesize it into an emotionally connected gesture? This study seeks to provide promising practices to aid conductors in discovering emotive content, transferring inner knowledge to outward physical gesture, and recreating the composer’s intent through a collaborative rehearsal and performance process
Exploring Drug-Use Progression Through Stability Enhanced Clustering
Get PDFBackground and aims: Drug use initiation sequences have been the subject of
much research, and theories such as the Gateway Hypothesis have been created
to explain patterns of progression from common to dangerous drugs. This study
uses adult respondent observations from four years of the National Survey on Drug
Use and Health (NSDUH) to uncover complex patterns associated with the age
of rst use (AFU) of drugs that are di cult to discern using a priori hypothe-
ses. From these patterns, a classi cation study is conducted to determine what
AFUs for quasi-legal drugs are most associated with subsequent illicit drug use.
Associations of demographic features with the AFU patterns are explored as well.
Methods: A modi cation to K-means clustering (KMC) is developed to improve
the partition stability of survey data. This method, stability enhanced K-means
clustering (SEKMC), builds partitions that are based upon relationships among
observations that persist across multiple partitions of bootstrap samples of the
NSDUH data. The computational complexity of the method is overcome through
cluster computing and the development of an algorithm to calculate completely
connected components in a graph in O(V) time. Classi cation of illicit drug use
as a function of quasi-legal drug AFUs is conducted using decision trees and logis-
tic regression. Descriptive techniques, including a 2 analysis are applied to the
partitioned data to relate demographic features to AFU patterns. Findings: A
partition of the data is extracted that contains 13 clusters, including ones of note {
early age marijuana initiation, a set of clusters whose commonality is based upon
illicit drug use, and one that indicates a link between prescription drug abuse
and marijuana. Both the decision tree and logistic regression analyses demon-
strate a strong association between early AFU of marijuana and subsequent illicit
drug use. Non-Hispanic Asians are more likely than any other ethnicity to be-
long to a no-use cluster, and respondents with less than high school education are
paradoxically more likely to belong to both the no-use and polyabuse clusters
Jack Frederick Kilpatrick, Oklahoma's Cherokee Composer: An Analysis of Six Intermediate Collections for Solo Piano
Get PDFJack Frederick Kilpatrick (1915 – 1967) was the first Cherokee to receive widespread acclaim as a composer. Born in Stilwell, OK, Kilpatrick learned music at an early age and earned music degrees from the University of Redlands and American Catholic University. Kilpatrick was eventually awarded an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Redlands in 1950. In addition to working as a composer, Kilpatrick was also a professor of theory at the U.S. Naval Academy of Music, and later Southern Methodist University where he served on the faculty until his death in 1967. Many of Kilpatrick’s nearly 550 works were lost until their recent discovery in 2018, when 31 boxes of his manuscript scores were discovered in Catlett Music Center at the University of Oklahoma. Among this discovery were 58 individual works for solo piano across 26 opus numbers, whose difficulty ranges from early intermediate to advanced concert works.
This document analyzes six of Kilpatrick’s collections for solo piano suitable for intermediate students. Analyses include an investigation of compositional features, stylistic influences, and pedagogical considerations. Each collection is leveled according to the system presented in Jane Magrath’s Piano Literature for Teaching and Performance. Chapter 1 provides the overview, purpose, and procedures for the study. Chapter 2 reviews literature related to Kilpatrick’s life and the appropriation of Native American music; due to the lack of existing literature on Native American piano composers, Chapter 2 also reviews extant works for solo piano by Native American composers. Kilpatrick’s known biography and summaries of his piano collections are presented in Chapter 3.
Chapter 4 analyzes two collections for early intermediate students (levels 3 – 4): Two Country Store Yarns, Op. 111, and From the Ranch Next Door, Op. 133. Chapter 5 examines two mid-intermediate collections (levels 5 – 6): Three Little Pieces for Children, Op. 33, and Two Pieces for Piano, Op. 110. Chapter 6 evaluates the following two collections for late intermediate students (levels 7 – 8): Two Vignettes of Cherokee Life, Op. 106, and Two Pieces for Piano, Op. 88.
The conclusion in Chapter 7 summarizes the findings of this research, including a review of Kilpatrick’s style and contributions as a composer and scholar. The author also offers possible avenues of future research. By studying Kilpatrick’s newly discovered works for piano, pianists and teachers can now explore the significant musical contributions of history’s most prolific Cherokee composer
Distributions and Bioaccumulation of Microcystins
Get PDFMicrocystins are hepatotoxins and tumor promotors, with various deleterious effects on plants as well. There are 270+ known congeners of the toxin microcystin, structural variants of the molecule. These hepatotoxins are produced by cyanobacteria, and are some of the most common toxins produced by cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms, or cyanoHABs.
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms are increasing in frequency and intensity worldwide. They are already a global threat to human health and ecosystems, occurring on every continent, and occurring from Antarctica to the arctic circle. They occur in freshwater, brackish water, and marine waters, and their toxins have been carried to terrestrial ecosystems as well. However, due to the number of congeners and the difficulties of monitoring their presence, more research is needed on their effects on ecosystems, their global distribution, and whether they can bioaccumulate or biomagnify in food webs.
In Chapter 1, I review the literature on microcystins in food webs. I compare the presence of microcystins in different trophic levels, habitat types, and taxonomic groups. I conclude that microcystin intoxication is widespread. I also conclude that more research is needed on microcystins outside of freshwater ecosystems and on how microcystins spread through food webs. In Chapter 2, I review the literature on the geographic distribution of microcystin reports. I conclude geographic disparities exist in the sampling and reporting of microcystins, and that these disparities have implications for global public health. In Chapter 3, I report a laboratory experiment which I ran to determine if microcystins can bioaccumulate or biomagnify in invertebrates. I fed microcystin-producing cyanobacteria to phytoplanktivorous zooplankton, and then fed those zooplankton to zooplanktivorous predators. I conclude that microcystins can be transferred between invertebrates, and that while microcystins likely do bioaccumulate they likely do not biomagnify
A Critical Discourse Analysis of Online DEI Curriculum in One Corporation
Get PDFThis study is a critical discourse analysis of online DEI curriculum of one large corporation. It looks at the intended purposes and unintended outcomes of how DEI curriculum is enacted, the implicit and hidden views of DEI curriculum and how language is connected to the power and discourse of diversity curriculum. By analyzing five DEI curricula through a critical lens that included the mandatory meaningful diversity curricula and four subcategories of belief systems, gender, ethnicity and disability diversity curricula, the research demonstrated positive and negative outcomes in beliefs, thoughts and feelings toward diversity, equity and inclusion training. The research also appraised the implicit and hidden views within bias, microaggressions, intersectionality and code switching. Bias, microaggressions, code switching and nuanced perspectives of intersectionality served as barriers to DEI. Language was critically audited in DEI curricula and counternarratives through critical race theory. The study found language in an ambiguous space, shifting with society and culture
Business model innovation in dance companies: entrepreneurial artists and the Dymond Process
Get PDFThis research will support existing and emerging dance companies to develop long-lasting and sustainable strategies by merging and implementing innovative business models exemplified by two innovative and impactful art companies, namely Akram Khan Company and Cirque du Soleil. The culmination of this research will provide a framework titled "The Dymond Process" to assist dance companies to build, orient, and reorient their activities as their own strategies based on Design Thinking methodologies that drive them in their quest toward sustainability, bridging the gap in the dance literature that is at the crossroads of dance entrepreneurship, business strategy, and digital transformation. The inspiration for this thesis arises from my lived experiences as a dancer, instructor, and choreographer as well as my observations of dance companies’ lack of economic resources, organizational strategies, and audience attendance, in conjunction with the difficulties that a dancer faces when not receiving sufficient remuneration to make a living.
Keywords: Dance Companies, Artists Entrepreneurs, Design Thinking, Business Model Innovation, Audience, Customer-Centric, For-Profit, Nonprofit
The effect of temperature and pH on 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphate hydrogel
Get PDFAqueous activators regenerated by electron transfer atomic transfer radical polymerization (aqueous ARGET-ATRP) is a well-understood polymerization technique that gives good control of the molecular weight of the final product. The regeneration of catalyst during polymerization reduces the amount of catalyst needed for the process. Reducing agents such as ascorbic acid are introduced and have shown great result with high oxygen tolerance. The polymerization conditions including pH, temperature, and solution composition could affect the final product of the polymerization. Aqueous ARGET-ATRP has shown great progress in polymerizing 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphate (MOEP). Current studies focused on the formation, gelation time and degree of swelling of poly(2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphate) PMOEP.
In this study, the focus remained to be the degree of swelling of PMOEP, but in different solvents to better understand the interactions between PMOEP functional groups and solvents. It was found that salt solutions can be used to induce swelling of PMOEP with potassium chloride and sodium chloride showed similar rate of deswelling at 0.1M, but much lower than 0.1M calcium chloride and magnesium chloride solutions. Furthermore, the degree of swelling highly reduced when 0.1 M, 0.5M and 1M of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride solutions were used as solvent. The data shows that calcium chloride solution gives the lowest degree of swelling following by magnesium chloride, potassium chloride and sodium chloride, respectively. The increase in concentrations further decreased the rate and degree of swelling until a certain point at which concentrations do not affect the rate and degree of swelling anymore. It was also observed that after the first hour, the weight of hydrogels reduced significantly to lower than its initial weight when swelling in calcium chloride solutions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to determine the structure and compositions of the dried hydrogel. PMOEP interacted with cations of salt solutions and cations were observed across the surface. Potassium chloride salt were observed on the surface of PMOEP swelled in all concentration of KCl solutions.
PMOEP has shown to have very little response to pH of the solvent. The change in pH at acidic conditions, very little change of degree of swelling was observed. However, the degree of swelling increased significantly around neutral pH of 7 and remain constant at higher basic pH. The increase in temperature resulted in a decrease in degree of swelling as well. However, temperature significantly affected the rate of swelling of PMOEP in calcium chloride solutions. The collapse of hydrogel was observed at 30 °C and 40 °C.
PMOEP was polymerized with 4T1 mouse breast cancer cells via aqueous ARGET-ATRP to show its ability to expand cells as part of the expansion microscopy study. The result did not show fruitful data due to its low-quality image. However, it was estimated that PMOEP could expand cells by two-fold, which could be very useful since the preparation of PMOEP is much easier and less time consuming compared to the method currently practiced.
The polymerization conditions were altered to better understand their impact on the properties of the PMOEP hydrogel. The study involved reactions performed at 30, 40, and 50 °C with 40%, 50% and 60% by v/v MOEP and at the native pH along with pH values of 1 and 1.5. Results for PMOEP made with 50% MOEP showed excellent shape retention across the temperature and pH ranges investigated. Except at 50 °C where the PMOEP gels showed multiple fractures and the gel color was light brown, which is different from the usual clear hydrogels observed at other synthesis temperatures. Compression testing showed that PMOEP polymerized at 40 °C with 50% MOEP and native pH had the highest measured strain and could show the original compressive strength even after multiple cycles if the force is below the stress to break the gel. Rat bone marrow stem cells (rBMSCs) were used for cytotoxicity study. rBMSCs were exposed and let to grow with the presence to PMOEP for 24 hours. rBMSCs showed great response to the gel with very few dead cells observed while continued to grow. This showed that PMOEP is not toxic tot cells
Design and Implementation of a Loss-Programmable Filtering Attenuator
Get PDFWith the increased demand for modern wireless systems in various applications, the need for adaptable radio frequency (RF) systems has greatly increased. These modern systems rely on the ability to operate in the microwave frequency spectrum (1 GHz to 1 THz) without interference from other devices while also retaining the ability to detect very low and very high power signals simultaneously. There is also an ever-increasing demand for the reduction of cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWaP) of these modern RF systems that drives an ever-increasing demand for more agile filters in the microwave frequency spectrum.
A filtering attenuator (filtenuator) is a device that combines the frequency-selective characteristics of a filter and the loss-programmable characteristics of an attenuator into a single component. In this thesis, a generalized theory of filtenuators is presented. A loss-programmable, third-order filtenuator is also designed to verify the generalized theory. The design of the filtenuator is based on tuning the resistance of a pi-network of resistors. The tuning of the resistances is achieved through the use of PIN diodes. The pi-network of resistances is built around a third-order filter that provides the filter response of the filtenuator. The filtenuator is designed to operate at 1 GHz and have a tunable attenuation range of 2-10 dB. This filtenuator demonstrates the feasibility of a tunable, low C-SWaP solution to increase RF system dynamic range as well as demonstrating a design process that allows for future development of filtenuators