Dissertations from the School of Arts and Sciences

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El Retrato de la Lozana andaluza: A Portrait of Transgression
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Spanish. The Catholic University of America, In this dissertation, I argue that Francisco Delicado's El Retrato de la Lozana andaluza (1528) is a satire that ridicules and denounces blood purity and the codes of conduct of the elite in early modern Spain and Italy. This approach departs from the traditional or didactic view of the work as a mimetic representation of society, which mainly functions as a condemnation of the corruption exhibited in the Rome of the Cinquecento. However, I do not ignore the conflicting historical backdrop against which the text was created. On the contrary, the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula (1492) and the sack of Rome by the troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1527) are considered central to the development of the plot. These two major events are used by the author to establish his ideological agenda, which, in spite of being contradictory at times, offers an insightful perspective on the work both as a product and a representation of the culture of the "margin" of society. By "margin" I mean the culture of poverty, which, in this case, resists social, religious and literary conventions. The protagonist, Lozana, is fashioned as a conversa, humble in wealth and social status, who clearly transgresses the social norms of her time. A rebellious prostitute and medianera, she rejects the silence, the chastity and the seclusion (both at home and inside the brothel) imposed on her by a patriarchal society. One of the most distinctive features of Lozana's portrait is the paradoxical nature of her beauty and her sex appeal while she lacks her nose and has an apparent scar on her forehead. I argue that her deformed face symbolizes her segregation both in social and religious terms, and that this functions as a marker of Lozana's "otherness". Through an intriguing blend of fact and fiction, Delicado playfully scrutinizes multiple layers of society, and gives a voice to the often stifled speech of early modern "misfits"., Made available in DSpace on 2014-02-11T18:36:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mulholland_cua_0043A_10452display.pdf: 1223140 bytes, checksum: 33c02f7c8fcd28b4ea4bb31f590f632e (MD5)
Electrical and Thermal Transport in Cation Substituted Barium Plumbate
The Ba-Pb-O compounds (Barium Plumbates) are examples of metallic oxides with perovskite structure which form a large family that displays a wide variety of properties such as superconductivity, ferroelectricity, catalysis, etc. This system, with a wide range of homo and aliovalent cationic substitutions, has been investigated for various end uses such as possible cathode materials in solid oxide fuel cells and prospective thermoelectric components and new superconductors. The starting compound, barium plumbate (BaPbO3), is known to exhibit metallic conductivity due to an overlap of the O2p nonbonding and the Pb-O spσ antibonding bands at the Fermi level. Another compound in the Ba-Pb-O system, Ba2PbO4, is known to adopt the K2NiF4 structure and behaves as a large-gap semiconductor where the valence and conduction bands are separated by a ~1.7 eV energy gap. In this investigation, a series of compounds in two different systems, viz.: BaPb1-xSrxO3-z and Ba1-xNaxPbO3-z have been studied. Aliovalent substitution of Pb4+ by Sr2+ ions in BaPb1-xSrxO3-z and substitution of Ba2+ by Na+ in Ba1-xNaxPbO3-z were studied with the aim of investigating the effect of cation stoichiometry on the thermal and electronic transport properties of these ceramic systems having the crystalline perovskite structure. In the BaPb1-xSrxO3-z system, the large difference in the ionic radii between the Pb4+ and Sr2+ ions introduce significant strain in the (Pb/Sr)O6 octahedra of the perovskite structure in addition to creating charge mismatch. In the Ba1-xNaxPbO3-z system, however, the difference between the ionic radii of Ba2+ and Na+ is not significant. Considering that the positions occupied by the Pb4+ and Ba2+ ions in the perovskite structure are different and the charge disparity caused by the substitution of Pb4+ by Sr2+ ions is twice that caused by the substitution of Ba2+ by Na+ ions, significant differences in transport properties have been observed in the two systems studied. Whereas evidence of a metal to insulator transition (MIT) of the Mott-Hubbard type has been observed in the BaPb1-xSrxO3-z system, no such transition was observed in the Ba1-xNaxPbO3-z system., Physics, Materials Science, Condensed matter physics, Ceramic oxide, Metal insulator transition, Metallic, Perovskite, Semiconductor, Thermoelectric, Physics, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Physics. The Catholic University of America
Electrophysiological Correlates of Object-Based Selective Attention
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America, A visual stimulus may be selectively attended on the basis of its location in space, a specific feature, or as a whole object. While a relatively large amount of research has examined the neural basis of location-based and feature-based attentional selection, few studies have examined the neural correlates of the spread of attention from one feature of an object to another, reflecting the selection of an object as an "integrated feature ensemble" (Schoenfeld et al., 2003; O'Craven, Downing, & Kanwisher, 1999). The research in this dissertation examined the electrophysiological correlates of the spread of selective attention to a task-irrelevant color feature of an object using the event-related potential (ERP) brain imaging technique. The temporal dynamics of this spread of attention were examined for two classes of objects, grouped-arrays of lines (Study 1) and geometric shapes (Study 2). In each study, overlapping objects were presented and the participants' task was to sustain attention to one object versus another to judge a change in the thickness of one of the lines of the grid (Study 1) or a change in object shape (Study 2). On some trials, either the attended object or the unattended object was colored, and color was irrelevant to the task. Difference ERPs indicated that color was first encoded in the visual cortex by 100 ms. However, the effect of attention on the task-irrelevant color feature was evident in later ERP modulations. A bilateral parietal/occipital positivity beginning at 200 ms (Study 2) and a midline occipital negativity beginning at 280 ms (Studies 1 & 2) were associated with the selection of the irrelevant color of the attended object. Source localization analyses suggested that the neural generators of the attention-related facilitation of the irrelevant color feature were situated in ventral occipital cortical regions near color-selective cortical areas. These data provide further evidence for the "integrated competition" model (Duncan, 1996; 1997), which posits that the neural basis for the perceptual integration of an attended object consists of enhanced activity in the network of specialized modules that encode its individual features, including those that are not relevant to the immediate task., Made available in DSpace on 2011-02-24T20:50:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zinni_cua_0043A_10036display.pdf: 6831820 bytes, checksum: 555b1582e1a90d43870af467a5b2b89c (MD5)
Elisabeth of Schönau: Visions and Female Intellectual Culture of the High Middle Ages
Degree awarded: Ph.D. History. The Catholic University of America, Elisabeth of Schönau (1128/29-1164/65) was a Rhineland Benedictine who wrote numerous visionary texts. These works addressed local problems in the cloister and community, reform within the Church, and theological questions. Elisabeth's writings were extremely popular among her contemporaries, circulating throughout Western Europe in the twelfth century. While scholars have studied Elisabeth, it has usually been within the context of her spirituality and how it reflected distinct feminine interests. This thesis, however, provides an analysis of Elisabeth's works in the context of the proliferation of school culture and reform movements in the twelfth century. Through a close analysis of her entire corpus of works, I demonstrate how Elisabeth's texts promote a clear reform program, engaging with literary formats popular among the intellectual elite. Elisabeth's works pursued a reform agenda through their emphasis on formation within the cloister and pastoral leadership, promoting these concerns as part of her answers to theological and spiritual questions that she received from members of religious communities. In this way, Elisabeth's texts also provided a response to those critical of her engagement with theological and spiritual issues in the public sphere. Entering into dialogues with her angelic guide and other heavenly interlocutors, Elisabeth provided an oral and aural visionary experience to her audience. This format represents a break with the previous conventions associated with the visionary genre. Elisabeth's re-conceptualization of her visions as conversations addressed an audience that was becoming more accustomed to public disputation within intellectual culture. In this way, Elisabeth's texts helps us to understand better the interaction between the worlds of the schools and the cloister in the twelfth century, as both engaged with oral discourse as a means to solve theological and spiritual questions., Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-25T14:59:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Spalding_cua_0043A_10411display.pdf: 1173762 bytes, checksum: cbca47cd259888ad49e24efeeb1b7eff (MD5)
Eltrombopag Improves Erythroid Differentiation in a Human iPSC Model of Diamond Blackfan Anemia
Diamond Blackfan Anemia (DBA) is a congenital bone marrow (BM) failure syndrome characterized by defective erythropoiesis. In most patients, heterozygous mutations have been identified in genes encoding ribosomal proteins (RP). The resulting RP haploinsufficiency delays globin translation in erythroid cells, whereas synthesis of heme, the iron-containing component of hemoglobin, proceeds normally. As a result, free heme is in excess of globin in these cells and induces proerythroblast cell death, and erythroid differentiation halts at an earlier progenitor stage. In this study, we investigated whether eltrombopag (Epag), an FDA-approved mimetic of thrombopoietin (TPO), could rescue erythropoiesis in DBA. We hypothesized that Epag might slow down heme synthesis by limiting iron availability due to its intracellular iron chelating properties, leading to increased proerythroblast survival and maturation. To test this possibility, we established an iPSC model of DBA by reprogramming mononuclear cells (MNCs) from a patient with inactivating mutations in RPS19. We also generated a control isogenic iPSC line by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated correction of RPS19 point mutations in the established DBA iPSC line. Both DBA and isogenic corrected iPSCs were subjected to hematopoietic differentiation for 21 days. Isogenic iPSCs efficiently gave rise to erythroid cells at various stages of maturation. In contrast, the majority of erythroid cells detected after differentiation of DBA iPSCs were blocked at early erythroid progenitor stages. Furthermore, in colony forming unit (CFU) assays, DBA iPSCs generated myeloid colonies comparable to isogenic iPSCs, but erythroid colonies were undetectable, consistent with DBA progenitor’s inability to differentiate. In support of our hypothesis, DBA iPSCs differentiated in the presence of Epag improved late erythroid maturation, as indicated by reduced percentages of early progenitors and a concomitant increase in more mature erythroblastic populations. To confirm that Epag-mediated iron restriction was the primary molecular mechanism underlying the improved erythroid maturation observed in DBA iPSC lines, we subjected DBA iPSCs to hematopoietic differentiation for 21 days in the presence or absence of either intracellular deferasirox (DFX) or extracellular deferoxamine (DFO) iron chelators. We observed a partial rescue of erythropoiesis in DFX-treated DBA cells comparable to Epag, but not in DFO-treated cells. Overall, our observations indicate that directed differentiation of DBA iPSCs recapitulates early erythroid maturation defects, and erythropoiesis can be rescued in part by addition of Epag or DFX during culture. These results suggest that Epag or DFX may improve red blood cell production in patients with DBA., Medicine, Immunology, Pathology, Diamond blackfan anemia, Eltrombopag and iron chelators, Hematology and regenerative medicine, Heme and globin synthesis, Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), Inherited bone marrow failure, Biology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Biology. The Catholic University of America
The End of Society? Defining and Tracing the Development of Fragmentation through the Modern and into the Post-Modern Era
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Sociology. The Catholic University of America, Without great precision, sociologists have used the term `fragmentation' to describe a state of disconnect found in both advanced industrial and developing nations. They suggest that it is influenced by such factors as globalization and capitalism. This dissertation attempts to define fragmentation as a process and suggest how it can be used as a theoretical perspective for understanding contemporary social divisions. Prior research is used to define social fragmentation as a process in modern society by which different groups form parallel structures within society, which have little or no consistent interaction between them over the full spectrum of the social experience; these groups are closely related to exposure to modern ideas. Fragmentation is found on four axes: spatial, cultural normative, economic, and political. From these axes, six specific types of fragmentation were selected as examples of how a method can be created to investigate this social phenomenon. A cross-sectional method was used with the nation-state as the unit of analysis, where theoretically based predictor variables were regressed against theoretically based indicator values in order to capture a snapshot of how fragmentation appears in countries at differing levels of development. Two types of special fragmentation were analyzed. Analysis of fragmentation of families suggests that immigration to a country and female labor force participation increased fragmentation. Analysis of fragmentation of cities that suggests the best predictors of fragmentation have to do with poverty. Two types of cultural normative fragmentation were selected. Analysis of fragmentation of normative systems suggests that various cultural factors, income distribution, education, and access to the internet predict greater fragmentation. Analysis of fragmentation of morality suggests it is most closely related to modern structures for dissemination of knowledge. Two types of economic fragmentation were selected. Analysis of fragmentation of markets suggests that the structure of economies strongly influences fragmentation. Analysis of fragmentation of production processes provided only limited support for the hypothesis that the most modern economies featured the most fragmentation. Overall analysis suggests that social fragmentation can be empirically defined and measured. Future research should consider access to world systems as a factor in the fragmentation process., Made available in DSpace on 2011-02-24T20:49:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Williams_cua_0043A_10094display.pdf: 2428448 bytes, checksum: 4e77af5999c96b2d21029bdca76a5d44 (MD5)
Energization, Loss, and Variability of Electrons and Protons in the Earth's Radiation Belts: Observations, Physical Processes, and Measurement Techniques
Since their discovery in 1958, the Earth's radiation belts have been studied extensively using a variety of measurement techniques. However, there are many questions left outstanding in the field of radiation belt physics. In the following thesis, we study the energization, loss, and variability of charged particles. We also describe, in detail, a new CubeSat mission. This work contains information on Geant4 simulation for design and characterization of charged particles, as well as calibrations from instrument testing. The CubeSat, CeREs, was launched in December, 2018. The first study addresses loss mechanisms, particularly electron loss through relativistic microbursts. While it is postulated that microbursts can empty the radiation belts over the course of days, the correlation is not well established. This study addresses the connection between microburst loss and longer term flux decay, finding that microburst loss is well associated with global loss in the radiation belts, particularly for CME-driven storms and quasi-trapped populations of electrons. Next, we quantify the pitch angle distribution evolution between relativistic and ultra relativistic electrons measured by the Van Allen Probes, distinguishing a global coherence in the evolution of electron pitch angle distributions during geomagnetic storms. Pitch angles, across energies 1.8-6.3 MeV, change in tandem, anisotropizing and isotropizing simultaneously, on the timescale of one orbit of the spacecraft. In addition, we find a pattern in pitch angle distributions across storms, and that CME- and CIR-driven storms have different rates of isotropization. These studies look at electron loss and acceleration in the outer radiation belts in new ways, helping to understand the delicate balance of mechanisms that affect these populations. We also study protons in the inner belt, tracking the secular drift of the South Atlantic Anomaly over nearly two solar cycles and compare it to the IGRF12 model, corrected for the spacecraft altitude. This research contributes to the long-term characterization of the geomagnetic field, extending the understanding of the South Atlantic Anomaly movement through long-term, single-spacecraft measurements. These studies contribute to a greater understanding of the behavior of charged particles in geomagnetic fields, microbursts, and wave-particle interactions in the radiation belts., Physics, CubeSat, energization, loss mechanisms, microbursts, Radiation belts, South Atlantic Anomaly, Physics, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Physics. The Catholic University of America
Epistemology in the Poetry of Countee Cullen
In this dissertation, I draw attention to a central aspect of Cullen’s poetry: his evasiveness. Many Cullen scholars have already wrestled with the poet’s reticence. However, when they do so, they reduce Cullen to a knowable, comprehensible figure. Critics, for example, claim that Cullen’s characteristic evasiveness is due to his latent homosexuality, or his racial consciousness, or his insecurities, gentility, or inauthenticity. Through my reading and contextualization, however, I hope to offer a way of understanding Cullen that does not merely reduce him to a static figure or a fully comprehensible artifact. Ultimately, I argue, Cullen used evasiveness to preserve the “otherness” of the other, to maintain mystery as personally, spiritually, and racially productive. In this way, he rejects most definitions as too static, and instead uses the form and content of his poetry to challenge meanings and conclusions. By preserving his unknowability while simultaneously acknowledging that unknowability is a key to his poetry, I allow Cullen to exist without being solved. In this way, Cullen inhabits in the same realm of ambiguity he vigorously defended in his writing.The dissertation thus traces the development of his epistemology. I reject (as Cullen himself did) the ossifying of his reputation, especially following his controversial claim that he is “Poet and not Negro Poet.” I contextualize this quotation and Cullen’s entire epistemological development historically (as a product of modernism, eugenics, etc.), claiming that it is always a multiplicity of factors that forms Cullen’s philosophy. Thus, even as Cullen endorses a simplistic division between positive and negative uses of ambiguity in Color (1925), this divide deepens into a much more positive understanding of ambiguity as productive in Copper Sun (1927). He then applies positive ambiguity to various truths in The Black Christ & Other Poems (1929), eventually claiming that uncertainty is the only way to accept religious truth as well. God, Cullen insists, must be treated as an unsolvable mystery, as must race, sexuality, and humanity itself. Understanding this central truth about Cullen hardly flattens his three-dimensionality—as I argue a solely racial or solely homosexual reading of his work does—but it instead unearths a central worldview that shapes how to understand the depth of Cullen’s philosophical ideas. To Cullen, personhood is ultimately beyond empiricism. Thus, his poetry treats—and wrestles with—that which cannot be known easily. I hope that, if we take seriously Cullen’s charge that the truth is a “many colored thing,” scholarship will hesitate to endorse a static understanding of Cullen—either as a poet or a man. Instead, through small glimmers—glimmers Cullen offers, revises, and reshapes—we can come to appreciate the complexity of an often-oversimplified author. Hopefully this project, which sheds some light on Cullen’s epistemological development, gives a way of knowing him, and incites the desire to grasp him more deeply through the protean avenues of knowledge—his poetry., American literature, African American studies, Epistemology, Color, Copper Sun, Cullen, epistemology, Harlem Renaissance, The Black Christ, English Language and Literature, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. English Language and Literature. The Catholic University of America
ERP Markers of Implicit Sequence Learning
Few studies investigate the within-trial temporal dynamics of neural processes related to implicit probabilistic sequence learning (IPSL). Those that do often use the electroencephalogram to measure and analyze event-related potentials (ERPs) linked to implicit learning. Presently, there is much debate about which ERP components capture processes related to IPSL. This is largely due to a lack of consensus concerning how to define ERPs using traditional methods. To address these concerns, the present dissertation examined the within-trial temporal dynamics of implicit learning using both a traditional and a new data-driven analysis (i.e. nonparametric cluster-based permutation tests) to analyze ERPs related to IPSL in a Triplets Learning Task (TLT). Results from the traditional analysis determined that cue-based expectancies learned via implicit associations during the TLT are distinguishable by differences in N400 amplitude. This finding was confirmed by the cluster-based analysis, which returned a significant late-occurring cluster that overlapped in time and space with the N400. This Late Cluster occurred after the average response-time and appeared to capture processes reflecting conflict resolution related to target predictability. The cluster-based analysis also returned an early-occurring cluster that was sensitive to target predictability but was not captured by the traditional analysis. This Early Cluster occurred before the onset of the average response-time and likely reflects response inhibition. Both Clusters demonstrated significant effects early in learning that diminish with practice on the TLT. This finding suggests that although early on participants react to unexpected events, with practice, participants learn to expect unlikely target events to occur occasionally. Taken together, the findings from the present dissertation demonstrate the temporal dynamics of within-trial processes during IPSL and implicate ERP markers of response inhibition and conflict resolution during the TLT. Additionally, these findings highlight discrepancies between the cluster-based and the traditional analysis, calling attention to the need to incorporate data-driven methods when investigating ERPs., Degree awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America
Evagrius of Pontus and Scripture: Philosophical Interpretation in the Scholia Collections
This dissertation contributes to the study of Evagrius by widening it from the narrow portrait of a desert monk to the broader portrait of a Christian intellectual who worked both inside of and outside of monastic paradigms. To this end, the project presents Evagrius within his historical, intellectual, and scholarly context before describing and analyzing the most important features of his scriptural interpretation. Of central interest here are his scholia, whose genre, methodology, audience, andfunction are the subject of examination. I show where Evagrius belongs in the wider history of Hellenic interpretation and how, as a scribe, he used new technologies to comment upon Scripture with scholia. Comparison with his other works, chiefly the Kephalaia gnostika, makes it possible to date the majority of the scholia to an earlier pre-desert period when Evagrius was a theologian in conversation with figures like Gregory of Nazianzus. Consequently, the scholia and the orations of Gregory receive a comparison that shows them in a shared speculative conversation. Unlike his contemporaries, Evagrius did not write orations, poetry, homilies, conventional commentaries, or even Trinitarian treatises (with one early exception). Like his contemporaries, however, Evagrius did help to establish models for the Christian philosophical life. Evagrius uses David and Solomon’s kingship in his interpretation to articulate a view of Christian leadership that aims at angelic knowledge and friendship with God. To inherit this kingdom, one must, like David and Solomon, progress in virtue and knowledge of creation and of God. This authority itself means participation in the life of the angels, who have been apportioned rule over the whole of the earth, to correct, teach, and inspire human beings. Evagrius describes this kingship as the particular role of the gnostic. Evagrius’ interpretations act as a kind of decoding of Scripture, which are then re-coded in scriptural references within his own writings to indicate spiritual realities. Both his form of writing and his form of reading bear witness to a community of highly educated readers across the eastern Roman empire. In this respect, Evagrius treats scriptural figures as gnostics who communicate to their addressees enigmatically., Theology, Classical studies, History, Ecclesiastes, Evagrius, Interpretation, Proverbs, Psalms, Scholia, Early Christian Studies, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Early Christian Studies. The Catholic University of America
Evaluation of the Protective Role of ADCC Mediating Antibodies in Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV-1
During pregnancy, the fetus acquires maternal antibodies by Fc receptor transfer across the placenta. Many of these Fc receptors are also expressed on immune cells and are responsible for recognition, activation and killing of HIV-1 infected cells as demonstrated in antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). This study evaluated HIV+ maternal and respective HIV+ or HIV- infant plasma antibodies to understand potential factors that contribute to protection from HIV vertical transmission. Plasma antibodies were assessed for the functional capacity of mediating ADCC against heterologous and autologous HIV-1 infected target cells. While no differences in ADCC mediation were found between transmitting and nontransmitting mothers, HIV- infants had antibodies with greater ADCC potency and breadth. Both HIV+ and HIV- infants had natural killer cells with cytotoxic maturation markers, indicating necessary cellular maturity to implement ADCC. However, no differences were found in cytotoxic frequency. Maternal and infant antibody binding features were distinct in maternal transmission and infant infection status. Nontransmitting mothers and their HIV- infants had greater HIV-1 antigen-specific antibodies that engaged common placental transport and immune cell activation receptors. Nontransmitting mothers transferred higher HIV-specific antibodies that engaged the neonatal transport receptor (FcRn). HIV-1 recognizing antibodies that engage placental FcRn were found to be the greatest predictive feature of reduced MTCT. This study supports that HIV- infants acquire antibodies with greater recognition of HIV-1 antigen and mediation of ADCC., Immunology, Virology, ADCC, HIV-1, MTCT, Placental Transport, Biology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Biology. The Catholic University of America
The Evolution and Motion of Transient Events in The Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Interaction
Degree awarded: Ph.D. Physics. The Catholic University of America, Instabilities in the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction govern the entry of solar wind particles into the Earth's magnetosphere. These particles could ultimately be responsible for serious damage to our current technological systems. I use simulations and observations to investigate two kinds of instabilities that occur during unsteady interaction, magnetopause vortices and bursty reconnection resulting in flux transfer events (FTEs). For the magnetopause vortices analysis, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations were generated. Two cases were run, one for a nominal speed solar wind (360 km/s) and another for a high speed solar wind (700 km/s). Both cases had an abrupt change in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation; 15 minutes being southward, -5 nT, and then turning northward, +5 nT, for two hours. No other parameter was changed in these runs. Using an IDL-based tool, I visualized the 2D and 3D nature of the vortices and compared my results with those obtained previously by Collado-Vega et al. (2007) who studied vortices using simulated MHD data initiated by real solar wind conditions. The characteristics of the vortices formed under dynamic solar wind conditions are consistent with vortices driven by surface waves on the magnetopause, like the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability. However, the majority of those developed under steady solar wind conditions suggest otherwise, especially the ones that developed on the dayside which are believed to be formed by the convection pattern created by high latitude reconnection. For the study of FTEs, I focus on Cluster satellite magnetopause encounters. The Cluster satellites orbit in a tetrahedral formation in near-polar orbits. I identified FTEs in Cluster observations from 2002 to 2003, and a total of 109 events were counted in the data set. A comparison of the analytical and global MHD simulation results indicates that most of the events form by component reconnection along a tilted subsolar reconnection line, move antisunward with the magnetosheath flow, and have long spatial extent. The events that were observed to have a motion opposite to the magnetosheath motion were found to have a strong By IMF component that can contribute to the flow reversal process., Made available in DSpace on 2013-02-08T16:05:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ColladoVega_cua_0043A_10384display.pdf: 14915310 bytes, checksum: 8d5c9d178be05ce7af845ba2c296b11a (MD5)
The Examination of Differential Approaches to Suicidal Typologies to Better Inform Treatment
The field of suicidology has worked tirelessly to better understand the specificity and idiosyncratic nature of the suicidal mind. In this exploration, research has demonstrated that those considering suicide often maintain different orientations, or typologies, of their suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors. To better understand these orientations, theory, practice, and research have utilized suicidal desire (e.g. Suicide Index Scores) and suicidal motivation (e.g. reasons for living (RFL) versus reasons for dying (RFD) constructs. Despite data supporting the predictive ability of the desire and motivation classification methods in regard to treatment outcomes, suicidal typologies have been relatively understudied. The Suicide Status Form (SSF) of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) is a suicide-specific assessment tool that is well-validated across diverse populations. With high collaboration and empathy, CAMS uses a variety of items to better understand an individual’s suicidal risk, including RFL/RFD as well as scaled questions regarding one’s suicidal desire. No studies to date have studied typologies and their relationship to Core Assessment items of suicide (i.e. psychological pain, stress, agitation, hopelessness, and self-hate) and outcomes in a longitudinal framework. Additionally, few studies have directly compared the suicidal desire and motivation constructs using a typology approach. The current study used latent growth curve modeling (LGM) to determine how Core items change throughout the first five weeks of treatment and if the Core items mediate the relationship between typology and outcomes. Results showed hopelessness had the largest negative slope out of all the Core items, and also mediated the relationship of being in the wish to die (WTD) typology and outcome. The slope of hopelessness also mediated the relationship between being in the wish to live (WTL) typology and outcome. The current study also aimed to determine whether the suicidal desire or motivation classification was more explanatory in outcome. While results must be interpreted cautiously, the desire classification model appeared to be more explanatory; though including suicidal motivation provided a more comprehensive suicide assessment. , Clinical psychology, ambivalence, CAMS, suicide, typology, wish to die, wish to live, Psychology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America
An Examination of Elementary Teachers' Efficacy Beliefs and Their Perceptions and Use of Technology for Reading Instruction
Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Education. The Catholic University of America, Reading is a consistent predictor of academic success (National Reading Panel, 2006). One avenue to improve students' reading achievement is with technology (Cheung and Slavin, 2012). Despite the possible benefits for integrating technology in reading classrooms, teachers do not use available technology (Bauer and Kenton, 2005; Levin and Wadmany, 2008). This study examined how Catholic elementary teachers' perceptions, and their self-efficacy, relate to their use of technology for teaching reading. Further, the research identified the factors that foster or inhibit the integration of technology. An electronic survey was administered and 115 teachers from a Catholic diocese in a mid-Atlantic suburb responded anonymously. The survey employed an adapted measure (Holden and Rada, 2011) derived from the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989). The sample consisted of predominantly mature, female teachers with about half having 10 or more years of teaching experience. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment tests and a correlation matrix, multiple regression analysis, ANOVA, and an independent-samples t-test. The survey's 5 subscales were highly reliable with strong Cronbach's alphas: perceptions (.95), attitudes toward using technology (.96), self-efficacy beliefs (.96), use (.90), and barriers to and facilitators for integration (.89). Teachers report access to technology, but express needs for specialized training and for additional equipment. Use was at the Tier 1 level, where teachers use technology for preparing to teach, rather than for actively engaging students with technology. There was a moderate positive relationship between teachers' sense of self-efficacy and use, r = .392, p < .01. The strongest correlation, though still moderate, was between teachers' perceptions and use, r = .49, p < .01. Teachers viewed beliefs about teaching (M = 5.52, SD = 1.48) and beliefs about technology (M = 5.33, SD = 1.59) positively, making them facilitators. Time for planning was viewed negatively (M = 4.12, SD = 1.93), making it a barrier to integration. Perceived usefulness elucidates why teachers use technology in teaching reading. By examining users' characteristics this study addressed the gap noted by Holden and Rada (2011). The current research also highlighted the significance of teacher-level factors such as teachers' perceptions about technology for their integration of technology in reading instruction.
An Examination of the Suicide Status Form Core Assessment Constructs Rank Order
After decades of research and clinical implementation, minimal improvement in suicide prevention has been demonstrated in the assessment of suicide risk factors (Franklin et al., 2017; Large et al., 2021) and suicide interventions (Fox et al., 2020). Fortunately, the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) was recently proven as a well-supported therapeutic framework for the assessment and treatment of suicidal ideation (Swift et al., 2021).CAMS has demonstrated strong psychometric quantitative properties with suicidal adults (Conrad et al., 2009; Jobes et al., 1997; Pistorello et al., 2021; Ryberg et al., 2016) and adolescents (Brausch et al., 2020). To date, only the ratings and qualitative responses of the SSF Core Assessment constructs – psychological pain, stress, agitation, hopelessness, self-hate - have been used as the source for these studies. Notably, minimal research has been conducted on a one-time measure, conducted only at baseline, of these constructs – their relative rank in order of importance. The current study thus aims to explore the rank order of the SSF core assessment constructs and their impact on treatment outcomes. To evaluate the prevalence of the SSF core assessment constructs among a sample of suicidal adults recently discharged from psychiatric inpatient care, a chi-square-goodness-of-fit was conducted. To evaluate the effect of treatment outcomes, longitudinal regression analyses were conducted using hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) to determine whether the constructs ranked as most important were associated with differences in trajectories of change across the 12-months study follow-up period. The study outcomes evaluated included suicidal ideation, symptom distress, optimism, hope, suicide attempts, and behavioral health-related hospital admissions. Results showed that the relative importance of the SSF core assessment constructs significantly varied across the sample. Self-hate and hopelessness were most frequently observed as most importantly, followed by psychological pain. Stress and agitation were the least likely to be observed as most important. Regardless of which construct patients identified as the most important significant improvement was associated with all outcomes, with two exceptions. Patients who identified psychological pain as most important did not show improvement in reducing their suicidal ideation, and patients who identified stress as most important did not increase in hope. However, patients who identified stress as their most important construct demonstrated the most rapid and sustained reduction in suicidal ideation. Additionally, across behavioral measures patients who identified agitation as most important showed significant decreases in suicide attempts and hospital admissions when compared to self-hate and hopelessness. These results demonstrate the prevalence of the SSF core assessment constructs and their potential ability to help treatment planning for suicidal individuals. , Clinical psychology, Rank Order, Ranking, Suicidal Ideation, Suicide, Treatment Outcomes, Psychology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America
An Examination of Treatment Planning Quality and Outcomes Within the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS)
Although the majority of research investigating suicidal behavior has largely focused on generalized risk factors and warning signs, evidence suggests that such variables carry limited predictive or idiographic value. The “Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality” (CAMS) provides a therapeutic framework for the assessment and treatment of a novel construct called suicidal “drivers” in which the patient is asked to identify the two problems that most directly lead him or her to consider suicide (Jobes, 2016). Ultimately, the goal of uncovering such drivers is to help the patient understand their own suicidality, and to better inform effective treatment planning tailored towards specific drivers. Little is currently known about the ways in which various dimensions of CAMS treatment planning impact patient outcomes. Research is needed to better understand the optimal treatment-planning process of ongoing, patient-specific, suicide-focused care over the course of effective clinical treatment. The current study thus aims to investigate the impact of treatment planning on post-treatment outcomes. Based on previous research, three dimensions of treatment planning were selected to be investigated: Driver change (“static” vs. “dynamic”), clinician elaboration (word count), and adherence ratings. To evaluate the effect of treatment predictors, longitudinal regression analyses were conducted using hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) to evaluate whether (a) dynamic (vs. static) driver change, (b) clinician elaboration (word count), and (c) clinician adherence to the CAMS model were associated with differences in trajectories of change across the 12-month study follow-up period. The study outcomes evaluated were: (a) suicidal ideation (SI); (b) symptoms distress (OQ-45), (c) optimism, (d) hope, (e) suicide attempts, and (f) behavioral health-related inpatient unit (IPU) admissions. Results showed that both driver change and clinician elaboration were significantly associated with differential trajectories in SSI across the 12-month follow-up. Specifically, “dynamic” driver change and smaller clinician elaboration were moderately associated with more rapid and sustained reductions in SI. These results provide empirical support for the importance of suicide specific treatment planning that is both dynamic and succinct, and highlight the need for more rigorous training of CAMS clinicians. It is argued that these results have potential to transform future lines of research into optimal treatment planning for suicidal individuals., Psychology, Clinical psychology, Therapy, CAMS, suicide, therapy, treatment planning, Psychology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America
Examining the Effectiveness of a Resilience-Based Group Intervention for the Treatment of Youth with Mood and Behavior Dysregulation
Children presenting with nonepisodic irritability (i.e., chronic and without distinct manic episodes) represent a highly impaired population and one that requires treatment superseding conventional psychosocial methods. However, little scholarly attention has been devoted to identifying empirically-based treatments for these youths. The present study addresses gaps in the literature by examining the effectiveness of a manualized, resilience-based group therapy program, the Resilience Builder Program® (RBP), implemented in a private practice setting with children identified as meeting a severe mood and behavior dysregulation profile (DP). These youths are likely to meet criteria for the severe mood dysregulation (SMD) classification or disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). Pre- and post-therapy multi-informant (parent, child, and teacher) data were collected from 48 DP youths and 83 non-DP youths aged 7 to 12 years to assess for change in functioning across four domains: emotional, behavioral, social, and family. Results demonstrated preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the RBP in improving parent report of emotional and behavioral functioning in DP youths, and such improvements exceeded those displayed by non-DP youths. In particular, DP youths exhibited significant reductions in parent report of depressive symptoms and overall internalizing problems as well as in parent report of externalizing problems, including aggressive behaviors and inattention. Interestingly, neither DP nor non-DP youths significantly improved in domains of social and family functioning following treatment; however, neither group was clinically impaired in areas of social functioning at baseline assessment, and DP youths were clinically impaired on only one measure of family functioning prior to treatment. These results may begin to clarify effective methods of intervention for children with severe deficits in regulating their affect and behavior and provide a foundation for future research and clinical inquiry., Psychology, children, group psychotherapy, mood dysregulation, resilience, Psychology, Degree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. The Catholic University of America

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