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Cyberchondria and COVID-19 Health Threats Related to Attentional Bias and Safety Behaviors
Get PDFCyberchondria is described as excessively searching online for health information that ultimately increases worry and anxiety about one’s health (Starcevic et al., 2019). Research has demonstrated an increased attentional bias in anxious individuals for threat-related stimuli. Attentional bias for health information exacerbated by the frequent exposure to health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to additional health-seeking behavior. The current study aimed to explore the potential relationship between COVID-19 health threats and cyberchondria level on attentional bias toward illness-related stimuli (symptom words) and the intent to perform safety behaviors while controlling for Trait Anxiety and Health Anxiety. Participants (n=49) were randomly assigned to the COVID-19 prime group or the control group. An EST using illness words and neutral words was then used to assess attention allocation. Scores from surveys were used to measure safety behavior intention, cyberchondria, trait anxiety, and health anxiety. A t-test was used to measure group differences. The primed participants did not significantly differ from the control group for all measures. The regression analyses showed that Emotional Stroop performance and safety behavior intentions were not related to cyberchondria or the COVID-19 health threatening prime. Research has suggested that instead of increased attention to threatening information individuals may demonstrate increased avoidance to threat, which could explain the null findings. Further research is needed to investigate potential predictors that may influence adoption, attitudes, and intentions toward safety behaviors.
Keywords: cyberchondria, COVID-19, Emotional Stroop Task, attentional bias, safety behavior
Evaluating Educational Efficiency in Texas Public Schools Utilizing Data Envelopment Analysis
Get PDFPolicymakers and professional educators attempt to be good stewards of public funds while simultaneously raising expectations for student outcomes that reflect academic excellence in the public school system. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficiency of Texas public school districts and the factors influencing the inefficiency of districts. This study is a replication of a similar efficiency study conducted by Carter (2012), which considered student performance in the 2009-10 school year on the TAKS tests. This study utilized quantitative research methods to gather data and implemented data envelopment analysis (DEA) to calculate a relative efficiency score for 1015 Texas public school districts using student performance data from the STAAR tests in 2014-15. Regression analysis was utilized to identify the effect of four discretionary inputs and four non-discretionary inputs on the relative efficiency of each district. School district efficiency was found to be significantly and positively affected by a district’s total student enrollment and total expenditures for instruction per student, and negatively influenced by the percentages of non-white and economically disadvantaged students, and by the percentage of teachers with master’s degrees. The results of this study have implications for policymakers, educational professionals, and taxpayers
The Gilded Cage
Get PDFMy process begins with an idea, the content of the piece. The Gilded Cage depicts human beings’ tendency to recede within - or “cage” - themselves when faced with the world’s perceived afflictions and villains. However, in doing this, they are also kept from life’s splendor. The Gilded Cage is an installation work that creates an atmosphere. I used cage iconography and imagery to convey the intangible space which people construct as internal spaces of protection. The metallic luster and sumptuousness of the liquid gold leaf juxtaposed against the blood-red microcrystalline wax enhances the piece’s tension and duality. The gilding vainly attempts to justify the cages’ protective intentions, failing to suppress the severe harm the cages inevitably inflict. Importantly, the cages have no locks, and the keys surrounding them represent individuals’ insistence on the impossibility of escape
Quantification of Kaempferol Conjugates in Watercress Juice and Methanol Extract: A Study Using HPLC and Protein Binding
Get PDFFlavonoids are a large group of biologically active polyphenolic compounds found in plants, that have gained importance in recent years due to their potential medicinal and therapeutic properties of high potency and low systemic toxicity. Kaempferol (3,4′,5,7- tetrahydroxyflavone) is a polyphenol antioxidant dietary flavonoid found in a variety of fruits and leafy vegetables, specifically vegetables of the Brassica family, which includes our subject vegetable, watercress (WC) which is usually grown in marshy lands. Kaempferol (KMP) has been depicted to have revolutionary attribute in overall human health ranging from anti-cancerous to anti-inflammatory properties. Here we show a novel approach for quantifying kaempferol and its derivatives in watercress juice (WC2) and methanol extract (WCM) using HPLC and protein binding studies. Human serum albumin (HSA) is chosen as the model protein
Why is Student Organization Attendance Down at Non-Football Sporting Events at Stephen F. Austin
Get PDF1860\u27s Clothing in America
Get PDFMy research focused on the Crinoline period which was a transitional period between the Romantic and Bustle Period. In addition, I explored clothing of slaves, and clothing during the American Civil War. There were clothing variations depending on wealth, class, and location. The most notable changes of this period were the use of the crinoline and Civil War uniforms. The transition of art from Romanticism to Realism and Impressionism illustrates the transition in clothing from flowy and delicate to that of a stiff and structured style
A Comparative Assessment of Soil Characteristics Between Forests and Urban Lawns
Get PDFObjectives
• Examine the differences in soil characteristics between a recreational lawn and a forest
• Make comparisons between a forest and lawn sampling area from a visual standpoint to observe a difference in what vegetation the soil supports.
• Collect data through on on-site and in in-laboratory methods.
• Interpret the results by examining the collected data and looking for patterns
Spatiotemporal Factors Affecting the Occupancy and Phenology of a Declining Songbird (Bachman\u27s Sparrow - Peucaea aestivalis) at the Western Extent of its Range
Get PDFThe Bachman’s Sparrow (Peucaea aestivalis) is a declining songbird that occurs throughout the southeastern United States. Bachman’s Sparrow is a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Texas, but information crucial to management efforts, such as factors affecting their detectability and occupancy, is lacking. I investigated the predictors of Bachman’s Sparrow occupancy and phenology in Texas using detections from autonomous recording units coupled with site characteristics and weather data. My results indicate that Bachman’s Sparrow occupancy is associated with increasing herbaceous ground cover and decreasing basal area, distance to the nearest source population, and basal area when canopy height is high. Singing phenology is affected by photoperiod and precipitation, with singing occurring between January and October. These results highlight the optimal spatial and temporal conditions for this species to guide future management and monitoring efforts
A Cleave within the Piney Woods: Nacogdoches, Stephen F. Austin State University and How Racial Integration Divided the Town and Gown
Get PDFStephen F. Austin State University was once the pride and joy of the city of Nacogdoches, Texas. When the Texas State Legislature began to look for a location for their new state normal school, the people of the East Texas town fought to have it built there and the Stephen F. Austin Teacher’s College opened its doors in September 1923 to a proud community. Through the trials and tribulations of early twentieth century events, the school managed to stay afloat and grow in numbers. Dr. Ralph W. Steen became the president of the college in 1958 and he oversaw a multitude of significant changes including the integration of the school in 1964. While this shift in the student body did strike a nerve with the surrounding community, it was not until those involved with the campus changed their political views and joined their fellow African Americans in the fight for civil rights, did the support for the university change. The actions of the faculty and students against the traditions of Nacogdoches divided the town and gown to where the relationship has never fully recovered