Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10657.1/271

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    Assessing and Predicting Social Emotional Learning Competencies in Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder
    (2022-08-02) Hartnett, Hannah Hyatt; Schanding, George T; Elkins, Sara R; Hentges, Beth
    Social emotional learning skills, or SEL, is a burgeoning area of study which includes areas such as responsible decision making, self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship skills which are essential in order to successfully navigate the world. These SEL skills are likely delayed for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Some of the hallmarks that individuals with ASD often face are deficits in the acquisition of social and emotional skills and awareness of these skills in others. Given that individuals with ASD struggle within these areas, this project sought to investigate a narrowed focus into the development of SEL skills, specifically, by looking at how factors such as IQ, gender, ethnicity, and SES influence skill development. This paper posed two questions: 1.) What are the typical SEL competencies exhibited by individuals (aged 3-21) with ASD? 2.) To what extent does intellectual functioning (e.g., Full Scale IQ) influence the overall SEL competency of an individual with ASD (when considering individual factors of SES, gender, race/ethnicity)? For the first question, data was collected from a previous study which included SELSI parent ratings of neurotypical children. This data was then used to compare to new data collected from this study where caregivers completed the SELSI for their children with ASD. The two groups were compared on the parent reported SELSI using group means. When comparing the two groups among individuals aged 6-11, it was found that neurotypical individuals were rated higher across all areas. For the second question, hierarchical linear regressions were used to examine whether individual factors impacted SEL competencies. The first step in the models included individual variables of gender, race/ethnicity, and SES. The second step in the models added IQ to determine the additional variance predicted above that of the demographic variables. Results of the models indicated that individual variables were not significant predictors of SEL; however, IQ was a significant predictor of SEL skills in preschool and child samples only. The results of this project suggest SEL skills lag in development for individuals with ASD compared to their neurotypical peers and may be important to consider in educational assessment and intervention planning.
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    From Their Perspective: A Qualitative Study Examining Black Boys' Relationship with Reading in Grades 3-5
    (2023-05-05) Harrison, Alexandria; Grace, Jennifer; Peters, Michelle; Pule, Heather; Raymond, Roberta
    The purpose of this study was to examine the reading experiences of Black boys in grades three through five, gain insight into what they felt contributed to their reading success, explore the relationships that influenced their reading lives, the challenges they faced, and their perspectives of the relationship they had with their reading teacher. A purposeful sample of 3rd-5th grade students who identified as Black boys from an elementary school located within a large suburban school district in the Southeast region of Texas were chosen to participate in interviews. This study used the grounded theory analysis approach (Saldana, 2016). An analysis of the interviews revealed that the Black boys had mostly positive experiences within their reading classrooms. The participants in this study mostly felt that they had positive relationships with their reading teachers. They found that support from their teachers, parents, and school administrators contributed to their reading achievement, while comprehension and unknown advanced vocabulary hindered them from feeling successful in reading.
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    Examining the Relationship between Principal Leadership Styles and the Impact on Teacher Burnout
    (2023-05-05) De La Rosa, Diana Marie; Divoll, Kent; Peters, Michelle; Grace, Jennifer; Castro, Evelyn
    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between principal leadership styles and teacher burnout. The study included a review of data collected using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-ES) from a purposeful sample of teachers from one large urban Title I high school in a southeast Texas school district. A purposeful sample of nine teachers were interviewed for the purpose of providing a more in-depth understanding of their perceptions of the principal's leadership style and their experiences with burnout. Quantitative data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and Pearson's product moment correlations (r), while qualitative data were analyzed using an inductive coding process. Quantitative data analyzed the five transformational leadership attributes and the three factors of burnout. Quantitative analysis revealed that there were no statistically significant correlations to the principal's transformational qualities and teacher burnout factors of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment. The qualitative analysis revealed that teachers perceived the principal as highly transformational, supporting the quantitative data, while the burnout experiences were significant for emotional exhaustion among the participants indicating that teachers are overextended in their job responsibilities. The qualitative responses of the participants further revealed that school leaders and districts need formal professional development plans to help teachers build capacity as well as to manage stress and burnout.
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    Examining the Relationship between Principal Cultural Proficiency and Leadership Behaviors
    (2023-03-29) Cardona, Rogelio A; Miller, Queinnise; Corrales, Antonio; Peters, Michelle; Verow, Shawn
    The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between principal cultural proficiency and leadership behaviors through a culturally responsive leadership framework. A total of 166 school principals from a service region of Southeastern Texas were solicited and completed the Educator Cultural Proficiency Insight Tool (ECPIT) and the Successful School Leadership Survey (SSLS). The research questions focused on four factors of cultural proficiency: (a) cultural awareness and diversity, (b) attitudes, beliefs, and expectations of student learning, (c) ownership and responsibility, and (d) recognition of racism predicting each of the four domains of leadership behaviors: (a) setting directions, (b) developing people, (c) redesigning the organization, and (d) improving the instructional program. The researcher used multiple linear regression, frequencies, and percentages to analyze the data collected and the findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between cultural proficiency and the four leadership behaviors examined. The study's results align with previous research that has demonstrated the importance of principals having a clear vision for a school, being child-focused, and having high expectations for students. Additionally, the research found a connection between empathy for diverse students and listening to all voices. The study also revealed that principals who recognized the presence of racism in their schools were more likely to engage in organizational redesign efforts. Finally, the research suggested that principals who took ownership and responsibility for student learning outcomes were more effective at improving the instructional program. The study highlights the importance of cultural proficiency as a predictor of effective leadership behaviors and needed support for schools to foster a culture that celebrates a student-centered focus in learning. The findings provide insights into the importance of principals' attitudes, beliefs, and expectations of student learning, their ownership and responsibility, and their recognition of racism in fostering a school culture that supports reaching a common goal, and building capacity in staff, managing changes in the organization, and improving instruction. The study provides implications and recommendations for future research in the field of culturally responsive leadership.
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    Teacher’s Perception of Humor as a Facilitator of Student Engagement
    (2023-03-20) Geumei, Dina; Brown, Amber; Peters, Michelle; Williams-Duncan, Omah; Preeti, Jain
    Classroom engagement is an excellent indicator of students' learning, grades, achievement, test scores, retention, and graduation. However, classroom engagement is heavily dependent on teacher-student interactions. Teachers' role in engaging students in the lesson learned is critical. Using a free and convenient tool, such as teachers' humor, can ensure student engagement in the learning process (Nienaber et al., 2019). The purpose of this study is to determine how schoolteachers perceive humor as a facilitator for student engagement at the classroom level. This study used a sequential mixed methods design to gain insights regarding the teachers' perceptions of the role of humor as a catalyst for student engagement. Survey and interview data were collected from a purposeful sample of K-12 grade teachers in seven private schools in Greater Houston, Texas. The study used an electronic questionnaire from 102 teachers working in grades K-12 and 14 follow-up semi-structured interviews to gather data on teachers' perceptions of positive humor as a facilitator for student engagement. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's product-moment correlations, one-way ANOVA test, and independent samples t-test. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic inductive coding. Results from the quantitative analysis showed no significance. In contrast, the results of the qualitative analysis strongly supported the use of positive humor as a powerful tool for student engagement if utilized appropriately.
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    Effectiveness of Drones for Freshwater Turtle Surveys Aimed Toward Detecting the Cryptic Western Chicken Turtle. (Deirochelys Reticularia Miaria).
    (2023-04-28) Nagro, Jason; Guillen, George; Mokrech, Marc; Howard, Cynthia; Gordon, Mandi
    The rise in the use of drones in wildlife research has shown promising results for conservation practices. Few studies have focused on drone surveys for aquatic freshwater turtles. This study evaluated the effectiveness of drones for detecting freshwater turtles with the primary target species being the Western Chicken Turtle (WCT; Deirochelys reticularia miaria). Two drones were employed to investigate their effectiveness for detecting freshwater turtles. 1) Videos and thermal imagery were utilized using a DJI Mavic 2 Enterprise (M2) and 2) static multispectral imagery using a DJI Phantom 4 (P4MS). Binocular aided visual surveys (BAVS) were conducted simultaneously with M2 surveys to compare and contrast methodologies. A total of 20.7 hours of video footage yielded 1916 freshwater turtle detections and 57090 photos with 1915 detections. BAVS had a cumulative time of 58.1 hours with 1096 turtle detections. Six turtle groups were detected with the M2, five with the P4MS and four with BAVS. Groups that were identified by all methods were Slider Turtles (Trachemys sp.), North American Softshell Turtles (Apalone sp.), and Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina). A majority of all detected freshwater turtles displayed no reaction to the drones presence. The M2 had a statistically significant (p = 0.015) higher monthly catch per unit effort (CPUE) for freshwater turtles when compared to BAVS. Six WCT were detected using drone surveys (M2 = 5 and P4MS =1) while BAVS failed to detect WCT. Drone surveys were successful at detecting and identifying freshwater turtles such as the WCT when compared to BAVS, but quality data collection relies upon many internal and external factors such as camera resolution and essential habitat features. Drones are powerful tools when surveying freshwater turtles and other wildlife collecting vast amounts of data. Their implementation in future research studies concerning wildlife conservation with freshwater turtles have evident benefits in overall site accessibility, field team safety, and non-invasive rapid data collection.
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    Talk Code-y To Me: An analysis of speech to text systems for consideration of use in writing software
    (2022-05-16) Tijerina, Isaac Guillermo; Datta, Soma; Helm, James C; Lacher, Lisa L
    This study proposes to create an application to allow ease of Speech to Text (STT) conversion specifically for programmers to make programming more accessible to those with disabilities. Recently there is being a movement of pairing STT with other disciplines now that STT is readily available and reliable. The main questions are how well Apple’s STT performs, is Apple’s STT ready to be integrated with coding, how do programmers interpret and speak code aloud, and how well does a formatting application created for this study to format transcriptions into executable code perform. The study concludes that Apple’s STT transcribes text at an average success rate of 50.1% and in correctly transcribing and interpreting words at an average success rate of 13.12%, whether it is ready to be used in coding is up to the reader, programmers interpret and speak code in wide range of ways, and the application had a success rate of 0% but the data collected will help it to improve in the future.
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    The relationship between scientific literacy and science self-efficacy of undergraduates enrolled in select Biology classes
    (2021-04-12) Shaukat, Faryal; Williams-Duncan, Omah M; Peters, Michelle L; Divoll, Kent A; Howard, Cindy
    Scientific literacy and science self-efficacy have both been the focus of calls from educators and policymakers emphasizing the need to improve and reinforce them in order to improve science education. This study is aimed at examining the relationship between science self-efficacy and scientific literacy, two critical components of science education, to better understand specific correlations between the two. A correlation research design was employed to examine the relationship between undergraduate student science self-efficacy and scientific literacy. The researcher solicited a purposeful sample of students self-enrolled in various Biology courses from a large suburban public university to complete the SELDS and the TOSLS assessment in one sitting. Data were collected through online administration of the SELDS and TOSLS instruments through Qualtrics. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlations, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). An analysis of the results of this study presented a statistically significant relationship between science self-efficacy and scientific literacy as well as between several specific components of science self-efficacy and scientific literacy. Another statistically significant relationship in this study was between self-efficacy for learning and understanding science topics and students'' ability to understand methods of inquiry to develop scientific knowledge. The results of the study can be beneficial to educators working with undergraduate students to help determine or develop their science literacy and science self-efficacy. Furthermore, they can be an important factor in the way that professors curate the learning experience for their students based on their science self-efficacy, self-efficacy to learning, and science literacy. The results of this study can be used to create a study on a larger scale to determine if the outcome was related to the narrow demographics of the participants. It is recommended to conduct this study on a larger scale, expanding to K-12 to develop a better understanding of the dynamics between components of science self-efficacy and scientific literacy.
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    An Analysis of Employee Work Environment: Improving Methods for Engagement, Affective Commitment, and Return-to-Office Strategies
    (2022-12-07) Egbe, Amaka; Sublett, Lisa; Milam, Alex
    Employee engagement and organizational affective commitment are increasingly popular topics, especially with the rise of remote workplaces and hybrid work models. This project focuses on the engagement and commitment levels of employees at a mid-sized software organization. While this organization (hereafter referred to as "The Company") is a global entity, this project focused on its United States branch. After the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, travel for events and on-site client engagements were heavily disrupted, as did their in-person work schedule. Employee engagement and affective organizational commitment were observed utilizing a 33-item survey that included existing measures such as Utrecht's Work Engagement Scale (2004) and the Allen & Meyer (1990) Organizational Commitment Survey. The results gathered from the survey helped to create an informed guide for an interview which provided clarity on employee engagement and commitment in relation to one’s work environment. The results gathered from the survey suggest that frequency of remote work positively correlates with employee engagement, but not with affective commitment. Changes to the frequency of remote work negatively correlate with higher levels of engagement and organizational commitment. There were no significant differences in engagement or commitment with race, but tenure, gender, and age were found to have a significant positive relationship with commitment. There is an additional need for change management initiatives to ease employees into any work format and scheduling shifts. Additionally, when transitioning work schedules or planning return-to-office initiatives, change management processes may be required to ensure that engagement levels do not decrease.
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    Dialecticism, Collectivism, and Stereotype Change
    (2022-12-01) Fick, Virginia Lawrence; Johnston, Amanda; Moreno, Georgina
    This study explores the relationship between cultural variables, individualism, collectivism, and dialecticism, with the tendency to modify initial beliefs (i.e., stereotypes) after being presented with contradictory information. Using the Singelis et al. (1995) Individualism and Collectivism Scale and the Spencer-Rodgers et al. (2015) Dialectical Self Scale, as well as a Stereotyping Questionnaire adapted from the research of Spencer-Rodgers et al. (2007), this study explores this relationship in three different racial/ethnic cultures within the United States, as these populations theoretically differ on these cultural variables. It was hypothesized that participants identifying as Asian (a population theoretically relatively high on dialecticism and collectivism) will be more likely to adjust their initial beliefs about a novel social group than participants identifying as Latinx (theoretically high in collectivism, low in dialecticism) or White non-Latinx (theoretically low in both collectivism and dialecticism). I found support for the concept that cultural variables, independent of race or ethnicity, correlate with stereotype change, although I did not find support for the hypothesis that these cultural groups would differ in predictable ways according to the cultural constructs in question. This study attempts to address the lack of research about the influence of cultural variables on stereotyping processes, as well as compensate for the lack of cross-cultural studies which allow for the generalization of findings beyond Westernized, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (W.E.I.R.D) settings.
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    The influence of administrative support on teachers in Title I schools during the Coronavirus pandemic
    (2022-08-02) Anugweje, Ijeoma C; Grace, Jennifer; Peters, Michelle; Simieou, Felix; Smith, Amanda
    The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of administrative support on teachers in Title I schools during the Coronavirus pandemic. This present study will add to the knowledge base by providing information on teachers' work experiences in Title I schools during the Coronavirus pandemic. This study included a review of data collected from interviews of elementary teachers in a Title 1 district. A purposeful sample of 12 teachers who worked in a Title 1 elementary school during the Coronavirus pandemic were interviewed. The interviews provided an in-depth understanding of the teachers’ perceptions concerning administrative support during the pandemic in Title 1 schools. The findings of this study showed that administrative support has a significant role in influencing on teachers’ perception of teaching, self-efficacy, decreasing stress, cultivating positive school culture, and lessening teacher burnout. The recommendations include ways district and school level administrators can create a collaborative learning environment where teachers and students are successful.
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    Measuring precalculus self-efficacy, grit, and achievement in university precalculus courses taught with an online flipped model
    (2022-11-16) Carter, Nelson; Brown, Suzanne; Peters, Michelle; Divoll, Kent; Willis, Jana
    The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among precalculus self-efficacy, grit, and achievement in university Precalculus classes taught with an Online Flipped Model (OFM). The researcher developed the Precalculus Self-Efficacy Survey (PCSES) to measure precalculus self-efficacy. For the purposes of validating the PCSES, at the same medium-sized university in the gulf coast region of Texas, 141 students were purposefully selected from every section of Precalculus offered in the 2020-2021 academic year (three in fall 2020 and two in spring 2021). To examine relationships among precalculus self-efficacy, grit, and achievement in Precalculus classes taught with an OFM, 81 students were purposefully selected from every section of Precalculus offered in fall 2020. All sections were taught with the same format by the same instructor. At the beginning and end of the semester, students’ precalculus self-efficacy was measured with the PCSES, and their grit was measured with the 12-item Grit Score (GS). A comprehensive final examination measured achievement at the end of the semester. Pretest and posttest PCSES and GS scores were analyzed using two-tailed paired t-tests to determine if there was a statistically significant mean difference by the end of the semester. Pearson correlations were used to determine the relationships between precalculus self-efficacy and achievement, as well as grit and achievement. Multiple regression techniques were used to determine if precalculus self-efficacy or grit could predict achievement; also, they were used to investigate if grit moderated the relationship between precalculus self-efficacy and achievement. Findings suggested that, although precalculus self-efficacy increased when an OFM was used, grit decreased. Furthermore, a positive relationship existed between self-efficacy and achievement, and a positive relationship existed between grit and achievement. Finally, precalculus self-efficacy was found to be a significant predictor of achievement, whereas grit was not. No statistically significant evidence was found to suggest grit moderated precalculus self-efficacy and achievement.
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    Method of Using Blockchain for Hardware Development Process
    (2022-05-10) Ejaz, Mudassir; Unwala, Ishaq; Lu, Jiang; Yang, Xiaokun
    Modern microprocessors contain many millions of gates and finding any hidden malicious Hardware Trojan (HT) is difficult. Additionally, HTs may not need any additional external input pins to activate. Multiple solutions have been proposed to find these HTs, but none of these solutions have promising result due to their limitations. Moreover, pre-silicon verification and post-silicon testing don’t address the issue of HTs. In this thesis we present a methodology based on blockchain technology to limit the possibility of inserting HTs into the design. Blockchain based technology limits the opportunity for insertion of HT, avoiding them in the design and fabrication process. We proposed a solution by monitoring hardware development process files, and maintaining integrity and trustful relationship using encryption and smart contracts in a blockchain network.
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    The area that continues to be unaddressed in public-schools: Teacher bias in the EC-12 setting
    (2022-04-13) Verow, Shawn; Grace, Jennifer; Peters, Michelle; Jones, Lisa; Henderson, Linda
    The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the relationship between a teacher’s level of implicit and explicit bias, as well as teacher perceptions of the role bias plays in the school setting. A purposeful sample of Black, Hispanic, and White public-school teachers in a large region of southeast Texas was solicited to complete the race Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the RIVEC Prejudice Scale. The survey data were analyzed using a correlation and analysis of variances while the qualitative data were analyzed using an inductive coding process. The quantitative findings indicated that the Hispanic and White participants have a higher implicit bias against Black people than the Black participants did against White people. In contrast, all three racial groups, on average, held the same level of explicit bias. A teacher’s years of experience had no effect on the level of bias a teacher possesses. The qualitative portion of this study identified the following themes related to bias and the role bias plays in the school setting: (a) implicit bias reactions, (b) explicit bias reactions, (c) lack of preparation and professional development, (d) bias in the academic setting, and (e) bias in discipline practices.
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    Are the Needs of First-Year Teachers Different Based on Preparation Program?
    (2022-04-11) Scott, Mandy C; Moore, Kelly; Lastrapes, Renée E; Orange, Amy; Bayard, Robert
    The purpose of this study was to examine the teacher self-efficacy of traditionally and alternatively-certified teachers and to determine if there is a perceived difference in levels of self-efficacy after the first-year of teaching in those teachers who completed a traditional certification program or an alternative certification program. The researcher also examined the perceptions of needs and levels of self-efficacy of first-year teachers who completed an alternative program compared to those of first-year teachers who completed a traditional program for certification. The qualitative data was analyzed to examine what alternatively-certified teachers’ perceptions of needs are and what traditionally prepared teachers’ perceptions of needs are. This mixed methods study used a survey in order to capture the first-year teachers’ level of self-efficacy who went through different types of certification and interviews to examine the perceived needs of first-year teachers. Through the lens of Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy’s Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and Bandura’s social learning theory, this study examined the first-year teachers’ beliefs as it relates to their self-efficacy. The participants included fifty-one elementary and secondary first-year teachers in a school district in Texas. The results of the study suggest there is no significant differences between the traditional certification and alternative certification teachers’ beliefs on self-efficacy in any of the domains – student engagement, instructional strategies, or classroom management.  
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    A Mixed-Method Study of the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic On U.S. Students’ Educational Attainment
    (2021-07-27) Beheshti, Mohammadali; Shan, Xiaojun "Gene"; Jeong, Ki-Young; Bozkurt, Ipek
    In this case study, we implemented a quantitative and sentiment analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education, physical, and mental health of college students in the United States. As students are the future workforce of society and play a significant role in the future prosperity of a country, appropriate measures should be taken to minimize the impacts of adverse events on their education and health. As compared to natural disasters, health disasters could have more psychological impacts leading to stress and anxiety, as reflected in their educational performance. This study is based on survey data from students at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. The survey consists of twenty-three questions that ask the students about their experiences during the pandemic of COVID-19. Based on the analyzed data, UHCL students’ attainment is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The average GPAs of participants show a decreasing trend from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 and mental health issues might lead to such problems as lacking behind the study. Increased levels of anxiety and nervousness are the most significant influencers on student achievement during the pandemic of COVID-19.
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    Determination of Aliphatic Organo-Phosphorus Compounds in Environmental Samples by Integrated Pulsed Amperometric Detection-Ion Chromatography
    (2021-12-13) Rayford, Robert F; Zhang, Carl; Dubrovskiy, Anton; Su, Yi
    Glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) is globally the most commonly used herbicidal active ingredient. Public concerns have elicited environmental agencies to monitor the persistence and occurrence of glyphosate. Recent environmental assessments quantify its annual mean concentration well within the parts per trillion range for US natural water sources. The environmental metabolites of glyphosate, aminomethyl phosphonic acid (AMPA), and the herbicidal active ingredient glufosinate are also frequently analyzed alongside glyphosate due to their similar chemical structures. However, their determination is labor intensive and not amenable to typical analytical methods due to the polyprotic and photo-inactive properties of these compounds. These compounds are typically analyzed by derivatization-based single residue methods (SRMs), where a few analytes undergo quantitative analysis by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry method only (LC-MS/MS). The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has developed a method for glyphosate determination using online SPE-LC-MS/MS. Yet, studies utilizing similar LC-MS/MS methods have suggested that derivatizing steps are susceptible to salt-associated matrix effects. Ion Chromatography-Integrated Amperometric Detection (IC-IPAD) offers simple, direct analysis of aliphatic organo-phosphorus compound without derivatization steps. In this study, an offline SPE-IC-IPAD method was developed and validated for the determination of glyphosate and other aliphatic organophosphorus compounds in environmental water samples. The linear range was found to be 3-750 µg/L (R squared = 0.9973, 0.9998, 0.9983) and the limits of detection (LOD) were found to be 0.950, 0.402, and 0.252 µg/L for glyphosate, glufosinate, and AMPA in reagent water, respectively. The offline solid phase extraction (SPE) method provided excellent recovery values (104-131%) by standard addition of spiked glyphosate in Horsepen Bayou. Although our SPE-IC-PAD method was not able to detect glyphosate, glufosinate, and AMPA in several surface water samples collected within the Houston area, a satisfactory recovery value of 96.8% was achieved for certified reference material containing glyphosate. Further, our study on optimal sample storge conditions suggested that glyphosate is stable in acidified surface water for 36 days. Our study recommends acidified or refrigerated conditions following sample collection intended for glyphosate determination. Optimal method development parameters and development strategies were also discussed with the intention to further lower LOD values and improve precision in natural water matrices.
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    The Effects of Hurricane Harvey on Houston’s Gravidae
    (2021-12-08) Shope, Cynthia Do; Cherry, Stephen; Lucas, Amy
    This thesis studies the effects of Hurricane Harvey on Houston’s gravidae (pregnant women). The study found that the gravidae’s demography determined their vulnerability to the storm. Gravidae who were foreign-born, in low-income households, with no college education, with no private health insurance, who utilized a county hospital, and who had no access to medical services or a maternity hospital were most likely to be affected by Hurricane Harvey. U.S.-born, high-income household gravidae, those with private health insurance, and those who were private hospital users were more likely to suffer a financial loss of $5,000 or more. The U.S.-born, non-Latinx Black and Latinx gravidae who were fluent in English were more affected than Latinx gravidae who spoke Spanish only. The gravidae that reported anxiety for four weeks or more were U.S.-born, living in high-income households, and had a college degree. Multivariate regression was performed for gravidae who were affected by the storm. The models show that during a public health crisis like Hurricane Harvey: 1) Latinx gravidae will be least likely to have access to medical services, 2) non-Latinx Black and Latinx gravidae will be more likely to have financial difficulty, 3) those with income of less than $35,000 will be less likely to have access to maternity hospitals and will be less likely to suffer financial difficulty of more than $5,000, and 4) those utilizing county hospitals will be less likely to have access to medical services and maternity hospitals and will be less likely to experience the financial difficulty of more than $5,000 compared to those utilizing private hospitals.
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    Nontraditional student attitudes about emerging adulthood
    (2021-08-05) Pena, Sindel Divina; Walther, Christine A. P.; Shaman, Nicholas J.
    The present study assessed beliefs about adulthood, including meeting one’s own criteria for adulthood, among nontraditional students based on different markers of nontraditional status. In addition, the study examined whether meeting multiple criteria of nontraditional status was associated with different attitudes about adulthood. Participants (n = 217) consisted of students from the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) who answered questions about demographic characteristics, which were used to determine nontraditional student statuses, aspects of emerging adulthood, and aspects of established adulthood. Results indicated that students who met the criteria for some of the different nontraditional statuses, as well as students who met the criteria for multiple nontraditional statuses, reported feeling less like emerging adults and more like established adults than students who met the criteria for traditional statuses. These findings demonstrate that some nontraditional students may feel more established in adulthood than others, and theory regarding emerging adulthood may need to be refined to reflect the attitudes and experiences of nontraditional students.
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    Classification of fMRI Brain Activation Maps by Using Space Filling Curves
    (2019-12-04) Bhupati, Lohit Ravi Teja; Unal, 'Zak' Sakoglu; Ahmed, Ahed Abukmail; Khondker, Shajadul Hasan
    Functional magnetic resonance imaging or functional MRI (fMRI) is a brain imaging technique which is used to measure brain activity by detecting changes associated with the blood flow and oxygenation, which are indirect measures of neural activity. When participants perform a task and/or have some stimuli during their fMRI scans, fMRI data helps us to obtain brain activation maps, which have three spatial dimensions (3D). 3D activation maps need to be converted (ordered, or vectorized) to 1D vectors for further analyses such as localization and classification of activations and/or participants. Traditionally, the 3D to 1D conversion has been done using linear ordering, which loses most of the information about the spatial structure of the brain. Instead, one can use space-filling curves (SFC) for vectorization, such as a 3D Hilbert curve, which can better preserve the structure of the brain; however, it is still far from being optimal. Finding an SFC which is adaptive to human brain can better preserve the structure of the human brain in 3D-to-1D ordering. The problem of finding an adaptive optimal SFC is inherently a modified traveling salesman problem (TSP). In this work, we obtained an approximation of the SFC practically using a heuristic solution to the modified TSP. We used completely de-identified fMRI brain activation maps from schizophrenia fMRI experiment participants. We first applied a Hilbert SFC to obtain features and apply deep learning and other machine learning algorithms to classify participants from their brain activation maps and to fine-tune algorithm parameters. We also used an approximation of the optimal SFC using a TSP heuristic, converted the brain maps to 1D and obtained features for classification. The classification based on the heuristic approximations of adaptive SFC’s orderings yielded comparable or better classification accuracies than those of linear ordering and Hilbert ordering.