UTSA Runner Research Press (Univ. of Texas at San Antonio)
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Key Staff Perceptions of Military Family Life Counselors in Public School Settings: A Case Study
No full textThe social and emotional well-being of the military connected child continues to remain a focus for the military community. This study examines the role of the Military Family Life Counselor (MFLC) as perceived by key staff within a public school located on a military installation. According to the General Services Administration (2020), more than 800 MFLCs serve military connected students, and Texas maintains the largest military connected student population in the United States. Through a qualitative case study approach, interviews and focus groups were conducted and informed the researcher regarding connections to the community social organization framework (Mancini et al., 2005).
Chandra (2010b) provided participant questions which laid the groundwork for the initial interview and focus group questions for this study. Through two coding cycles the data collected revealed themes that transcended several components of the theoretical framework. The themes were illustrated through a lock and key conceptual model called ‘Unlocking Positive Outcomes’ and include communication, reputation, and housing that present a variety of challenges for each student. The last theme of informal and cultural supports represented by the lock demonstrates how support from MFLCs, along with other systems, helps students overcome challenges associated with adolescent life in a military family.Educational Leadership and Policy Studie
The Performance Characterization of a Drop-on-Demand Inkjet-Printed Gold Film Under the Temperature Conditions for Airborne Equipment
No full textDrop-on-demand (DoD) printing is an additive manufacturing technique that utilizes functional inks containing nanoparticles (NPs) to fabricate electronic circuits or devices on a variety of substrates. One of the most promising applications for such technology is the aerospace industry, due to the capability of this method to fabricate custom low-weight geometric films. This work evaluates the performance of a gold (Au) nanoparticle (NP)-based film printed on a ceramic substrate for avionics applications, following the environmental temperature guidance of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) DO-160. Experimental results show that the Au films, printed on alumina substrates, successfully survived the environmental temperature procedures for airborne equipment. The thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the films was measured to be <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>2.7</mn><mo>&times;</mo><msup><mrow><mn>10</mn></mrow><mrow><mo>&minus;</mo><mn>3</mn></mrow></msup><mo>&nbsp;</mo><msup><mrow><mo>&deg;</mo><mi mathvariant="normal">C</mi></mrow><mrow><mo>&minus;</mo><mn>1</mn></mrow></msup><mo>.</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>Electrical and Computer Engineerin
Optimizing Mixed Fleet of Aerial Drones and Ground Vehicles for Efficient Delivery of Time-Sensitive Products
No full textThe rapid growth in e-commerce and demand for timely delivery of perishable or time-sensitive products, such as pharmaceuticals, and fresh food, have underscored the need for faster last-mile delivery solutions. This paper presents a mixed-integer linear programming model for unsynchronized multimodal routing of a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles, including ground vehicles operating in circular delivery mode and drones following direct delivery, to deliver time-sensitive products within a pre-determined time window defined by both release and due times. We considered different drone types, with distinct costs, energy consumption, battery capacity, payload capacity, and speed. We also applied machine learning to estimate the energy consumption of drones influenced by key factors, such as drone type, distance, and package weight based on real data from drone flight time and power consumption. The realistic feature of replacing the battery of drones when required by tracking their energy consumption is also studied in this problem. We proposed an efficient branch-and-cut (B&C) method and introduced a clustering-based heuristic technique for efficiently solving large-scale delivery networks. Numerical results based on real data from a prepared food delivery industry provide insights into the effect of different practical operating conditions on the required fleet size, the required number of battery replacements, and energy consumption. Our B&C method performed 30 times faster than Gurobi, while the clustering-based heuristic approach further improves performance, achieving over 100 times the speed of Gurobi with a minor reduction in solution quality.Mechanical Engineerin
Cowboys and Cattle Drives: 1865-1885
No full textBased on Fourth Grade Texas Essential Knowledge & SkillsIncludes materials for a primary-source based lesson about cowboys and cowboy culture in Texas
Assessment of X Chromosome Centromere Instability in Alzheimer&rsquo;s Disease: A Quantitative FISH Approach
No full textChromosomal instability in Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease (AD) neurons has been previously reported. This pilot study aimed to establish a quantitative technique for assessing X chromosome centromere signals using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Hippocampal brain tissue was collected at autopsy from sporadic AD patients and age- and gender-matched controls. FISH was utilized to detect and measure the intensity of hybridization signals for X chromosome centromeres in the interphase nuclei of hippocampal brain cells. The premature centromere division (PCD) phenomenon, marked by a close bipartite signal appearing as two separated FISH spots, was examined to see if the hybridized DNA amount in each spot matched the expected centromere DNA amount. The technique effectively distinguished between PCD+ and PCD&minus; signals. The average PCD frequency of the X chromosome in the AD group was 7 &plusmn; 1%, compared with 3.2 &plusmn; 0.84% in the controls. This quantitative approach supports qualitative analyses of FISH centromere spots, reinforcing findings of chromosomal instability in AD. The presence of a double signal at the centromere of a single X chromosome indicates re-entered cell cycles, DNA replication, and PCD in hippocampal neurons. This technique provides a reliable method for identifying PCD + signals and contributes to understanding chromosomal instability in AD.College of Science
Understanding the Role of Flagellins in Vibrio vulnificus Motility and Its Virulence in the Galleria mellonella Model
No full textMotility of the Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio vulnificus contributes to virulence in a human host. Motility is facilitated by a polar flagellum synthesized by six flagellin genes, which encode proteins that compose the flagellar filament. It is unclear how each flagellin contributes to filament formation. Characterizing flagellar synthesis and utilizing Galleria mellonella afterwards can assist in understanding its pathogenesis. Additional virulence factors rtxA1 and vvhA express cytolytic activity. Deletions of these genes have unknown effects in Galleria. Establishing an effective infection model for these three factors could lead to an alternative to mice. To gain insight into V. vulnificus flagellins, multiple strains with varying deletions were created. A V. vulnificus strain lacking three flagellins (ΔflaEDB) demonstrated no apparent loss in motility, indicating that FlaE, FlaD, and FlaB are unnecessary for motility. A V. vulnificus strain lacking all six flagellins is non-motile, but when only FlaA is expressed in this strain, it remains non-motile. This result indicates that the flagellins of V. vulnificus have different functions than the V. cholerae flagellins, because expression of only FlaA in V. cholerae leads to flagellar synthesis and motility. The mutants were then injected into Galleria larvae, along with ΔrtxA1 and ΔvvhA knockout strains, and observed for 24 hours for 5 days. The results indicated that flagellin deletions are more virulent than wildtype but either rtxA1 or vvhA or both deletions remained the same. This suggests that in addition to motility, flagellins may have roles in virulence.Molecular Microbiology and Immunolog
Yesterday Was Too Late: School Desegregation, "Drastic Means," and the 1969 Harrisburg Black Rebellion
No full textIn the late 1960s, school desegregation and civil rights activism collided in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Despite all efforts to ward off disaster, in 1969 a rebellion broke out in the city; first, at the city’s public schools, and second, at the corner of 13th and Market streets in the segregated Black neighborhood of Allison Hill. This study aims to connect this micro event to macro trends, uncover connections between the two protest incidents, interrogate the decision making of officials, and tell the holistic story of Mary Yancey. Utilizing a case study approach, the study focuses heavily on the people and events within the City of Harrisburg. It provides insightful communication with the arguments made by leading historians about this period in urban America and especially in the northern states. The study utilizes archival collections, oral history transcripts, direct quotations of historical actors from contemporary newspapers, autobiography, government documents, contemporary video footage and interviews, and two author interviews. It argues three major conclusions. First, delays by the Harrisburg City School District in the desegregation process, the district’s failure to live up to student and community demands, and a white community in Harrisburg that proved to be resistant to change and recalcitrant to new policies combined to ensure that no action was enough to avoid violent action. Second, the June 1969 rebellion was clearly a continuation of the February school rebellion, in that the Harrisburg School District neither resolved the conflicts nor advanced stalled educational reforms and the June rebellion was youth-led. Finally, Mary Yancey’s family history and activist resumé establish that her decision to protest on June 23, 1969, was not the result of a single event (her June 21 arrest); rather, her prior involvement in the Civil Rights Movement made her the perfect conduit for the voices of the community and for her former students.Histor
Los Tejanos: The Tejano Kitchen, An Exploration of Culture through Food
No full textBased on Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills, Grades Kindergarten through Third GradeThe Tejano contribution to the Texan identity and culture are significant, and can be seen all around us in architecture, art and music, the ranching, farming, and labor industries, and in the foods we eat. The Tejano Kitchen: An Exploration of Culture through Food resource guide provides students with hands-on learning activities that give them the opportunity to engage with and make personal connections to the past and present, where they will refine critical thinking skills while learning about the uniqueness of Tejano cuisine. The contents of this guide are based on Art, Social Studies, and English Language Arts and Reading TEKS for grades K through 3
Demography and Democracy: The Racialization of the Latine/x Vote
No full textThis dissertation examines the racialization of the Latine/x vote in the United States, highlighting how structural racism, voting policies, and voter turnout frameworks influence voter turnout. The study uses logistic regression and multiple regression analyses to assess whether there are voting disparities among ethnorace nationally and at the state level, and whether states with larger or rapidly growing Latine/x populations impose greater costs to voting and more restrictive voting laws. The combined analysis covers the federal election cycles in 2012, 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, evaluating individual- and state-level factors affecting voter turnout and participation. The findings reveal there are indeed voter turnout disparities among ethnoraces after controlling for key variables at the national level, state level, and the individual level. In examining the cost of voting index (COVI) scores — indicating more restrictive voting environments — the analysis revealed a positive and significant association between the level of population growth of Latine/x immigrants and the cost of voting across states, supporting the hypothesis that racialized policies aim to suppress Latine/x voter influence. Moreover, the study observes differences in voter turnout between states with contrasting voting accessibility, in the case of California and Texas, reinforcing the impact of policy-induced barriers on marginalized groups. The research contributes to the literature on structural racism by applying critical race theory and demography to demonstrate how seemingly race-neutral policies disproportionately hinder Latine/x voters. Policy recommendations include the need for equitable voting reforms to promote inclusive democratic participation. The study underscores the urgency of addressing racialized voting laws to safeguard electoral equity amid the country’s shifting demographics.Applied Demograph
Re-Membering Grief: A Critique and an Anzaldúan Remedy
No full textIn this project, I seek to expand our understanding of relevant instances of loss that lead to grief responses and thus give a conception of grief as a practice. Utilizing the method of autohistoria-teoría, personal narrative is used as the grounds for theorizing about grief throughout the text. This project seeks to reframe how we understand grief, its phenomenology sure, but also how it is realized in political, epistemic, and ethical theorizing. Lastly, Gloria Anzaldúa’s conocimiento will help us to make sense of grief and the grounds for understanding our experience of loss and change, which in turn allows us to recognize the need for the practice of grief as a system of care.Philosoph