Pile-Soil Interaction in Unsaturated Soil Conditions

The degree of saturation has been proven to significantly affect geotechnical engineering designs for foundations. The changes in water content will influence the way the soil behaves, including its strength and stiffness parameters. These characteristics were analyzed for a uniform silty sand by developing P-Y curves, which relate lateral loading to lateral deformations. These P-Y curves were input into FB-Multipier, a software developed by the Bridge Software Institute. The software is capable of generating deformations as a result of user-defined loading cases. The results indicated that the middle range of degrees of saturation produced the least amount of deformation. This is in accordance with stiffer response in partially saturated soils due to the presence of inter-particle suction stresses

Do Violent Video Games Stimulate Aggressive Tendencies?

This study looked at the relationship between violent video game (VVG) play and aggressive tendencies. Participants were required to be at least 18 years of age or older and were recruited through flyers in the Library and Academic Resource Center and Young Hall on the Lindenwood University campus, as well as through the Lindenwood Participant Pool. Participants took a pretest on Qualtrics measuring aggressive tendencies and after the pretest, participants were systematically chosen to either play Grand Theft Auto V (GTAV); (Rockstar Games, 2014) or Stardew Valley (Barone & Sickhead Games, 2016). Following gameplay, participants then took a posttest on Qualtrics measuring aggressive tendencies again and finished by completing demographic questions. Hypotheses included: 1) VVG causes an increase in aggression in players; 2) People who identify as men will have a higher level of increase in aggression than other genders when playing the VVG whereas there will be no difference between people who identify as men and people who identify as women in level of aggression when playing the calm video game (CVG); 3) People with more experience playing video games will have less increase in aggression compared with less experienced players. Results showed Stardew Valley having higher increase in aggression levels compared to GTAV, men showing less increase in aggression than women when playing both games, and people with more experience with video games having less increase in aggression than less experienced players. The third hypothesis had the only statistically significant finding (t(13) = 2.49, p = .03)

Rising Morning

As the sun touches the tips of trees, And a smooth grey light gently Wakes up the natural world, The early morning whispers To my restless soul

Innate Longing for Connection: A Biopsychological View of Spiritual Longing Mediated by Oxytocin

Humans have an innate longing for connection with someone or something. Upon analysis of current literature, it was found that this longing correlates with biological and psychological pathways that influence human behavior. Among many factors, the hormone, oxytocin (OT), contributes to these systems and even mediates or buffers them. The effects of OT are evidenced by bonds formed with caregivers, romantic partners, God, and at times harmful substances. The onset and severity of mental illnesses are also partially impacted by this human need for social support and connection. After reviewing and analyzing literature from many domains, this internal hardwiring suggests a significance or purpose in the human makeup, more succinctly: Divine Creation. Biopsychological mechanisms—mediated in part by OT—and the resulting behaviors or psychological disorders demonstrate the human need for connection and potentially union or relationship with an ultimate, satisfying source, which is found in God. This paper seeks to illuminate pathways that contribute to our longing for connection, which ultimately reflect the purpose of human creation: to be in relationship with others and God

Review of Building the Army’s Backbone: Canadian Non-Commissioned Officers in the Second World War by Andrew L. Brown

Review of Building the Army’s Backbone: Canadian Non-Commissioned Officers in the Second World War by Andrew L. Brow

Designing a Rubric for Evaluating Curricular Resources in Montana\u27s \u3cem\u3e Indian Education for All Repository\u3c/em\u3e: A Design-Based Research Approach

The purpose of this research study was to create an initial rubric to evaluate social studies lesson plans prior to their addition to Montana Office of Public Instruction’s online repository for Indian Education for All (IEFA) curriculum. In the first phase of this study, I examined Montana’s IEFA curriculum thematically to gain a better understanding of how Indigenous histories and perspectives are being represented using combined theoretical lenses of Tribal Critical Race Theory and culturally sustaining/ revitalizing pedagogy. In the second phase of this study, I used my thematic findings to inform the design of a theory-informed evaluative rubric. The findings from this line of research have implications for equity and inclusion in K-12 education as well as how educators and scholars think about evaluating Indigenous education curriculum

An Examination of Dental Health Among Metropolitan and Appalachian Adolescents in Ohio

Background: Poor dental health is a common chronic condition among youth. Appalachian versus metropolitan residence, socioeconomic status, and health behaviors contribute to poor dental health. Limited research has directly compared dental health and risk factors for poor dental health among Appalachian and metropolitan youth. We exam-ined the association between dental health and residence among adolescent boys and explored socioeconomic and be-havioral factors that may contribute to differences in dental health.Methods: Adolescent males from metropolitan and rural Appalachian Ohio (n = 1220, age 11-16 years) reported their diet and tobacco use. Parents or guardians reported when boys had last visited the dentist and rated their dental health (excellent/very good/good versus fair/poor). Unadjusted logistic regression modeled the association between fair/poor dental health and residence (metropolitan versus Appalachian). Adjusted analyses controlled for race, household income, dental visits, diet, and tobacco use.Results: Appalachian (versus metropolitan) boys were more likely to have used tobacco in the past 30 days and consumed fewer fruit and vegetables, more added sugar, and more sugary beverages. The relation between dental health and Appalachian versus metropolitan residence did not reach statistical significance, and adjusting for behavioral factors did little to change the observed association.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that some of the urban/rural disparities in dental health observed in other stud-ies may be related to behavioral factors like tobacco use and diet, but much remains unexplained. We provide support for behavioral interventions to address these issues in the Appalachian community

What does it mean to sound African American? Teachers' perceptions of school-age children's communication

Using a framework of language ideologies, this mixed-methods study examined teachers' perceptions of nonmainstream dialect, specifically looking at African American English (AAE). Eighty-one total teachers from the local school district listened to four different speech stimuli (elementary school-aged) enacted in either African American English or Mainstream American English using a matched-guise design within two different child actors. After listening to the four speech stimuli, teachers provided their first impression of each child's academic and personality on the Teacher Perception Rating Questionnaire (TPRQ), a 5-point Likert scale. Afterwards, approximately one-fourth of the teachers from three of the sites participated in focus group interviews to discuss their impressions of the stimuli and cultural linguistic differences more broadly. Key findings integrated across data sources revealed that teachers perceive speakers of the AAE v. MAE stimuli differently if the paralinguistics of the presented dialects differed. Second, teachers continue to privilege MAE within the academic setting, in part because they see it as their job to prepare children for success on standardized assessments and in society at large. Whether intentional or otherwise, school currently serves as a vehicle for perpetuating standard language ideologies that denigrate AAE

Stress Hardiness and Lawyers

This article empirically analyzes original data to look at stress and stress hardiness in the legal profession A number of studies address stress in the legal profession and its impact on the mental health of lawyers Our study is the first to examine stress hardiness in the legal profession Drawing on quantitative data gathered from 20132016 in surveys of 530 law students and lawyers and qualitative data from 106 indepth interviews with lawyers and building on the work of research psychologists Salvatore Maddi and Suzanne Kobasa we look at whether some lawyers more stress hardy than others and if so what makes them stress hardy and whether their strategies teachable and learnable Our data show the following 1 some lawyers are more stress hardy than others 2 although no demographic factors correlate to stress hardiness three behaviors maintaining a sense of control a sense of purpose and cognitive flexibility show a significant correlation to stress hardiness 3these behaviors build on each other such that use of one strengthens the use of others 4 maintaining a sense of purpose a sense of control and cognitive flexibility are teachable and learnable 5 the type of stress lawyers experience varies by practice area 6 the level of stress experienced by law students and lawyers remains fairly constant throughout law school and law practice 7 law students and lawyers report using the following strategies to help manage stress exercise social connectedness and three habits of thought planning and organization perspective and gratitude 8 lawyers report less reliance on exercise and social connectedness as they age and greater reliance on substance use 9 reliance on drugs and alcohol to manage stress correlates to greater stres

Trends in Texas Youth Fitness Testing: A Longitudinal Look at Statewide Reporting

Since 2007, Texas has mandated physical fitness assessment and reporting requirements for students in public school districts. Results from these yearly assessments are summarized in aggregate form as publicly accessible data, available for monitoring, analysis, and evaluation. The purpose of this research was to examine longitudinal trends in reporting to inform on the reach, impact, and value of routine statewide fitness data collection. This research manifested itself in two broad studies, each encompassing data from students in Grades 4, 6, 7, and 9. The first study used seven years of data to examine reporting frequency over time and to identify predictors of school district reporting compliance. Reporting rates among districts were high each year, but several district characteristics strongly correlated with exemplary reporting frequency. The strongest predictors of reporting frequency were: teacher turnover rate, fitness performance, economic status, and among older grades, attendance rate. The second study used three years of data to measure the longitudinal relationship of achievement rates on two common fitness tests, which were proxies for aerobic capacity and body composition, among various student subgroups. Some correlation between these achievement rates was expected, but a very high correlation was detected among Grade 6 girls and persisted over the time period. Measuring how the correlations endure over time offers valuable insight about the unique contributions that each test can offer to students, highlighting how the mathematical calculations of the tests can impact the students attempting them. Together, the findings from these studies have implications for students who are required to take annual fitness tests; for parents who help interpret students’ performance; for teachers who train to administer tests and report the results; and for researchers who develop and evaluate tests. Although considered beneficial and informative, statewide fitness testing is a large endeavor that relies on comprehensive student participation and dedicated adherence from school and district staff. These results can help health professionals determine how to optimize statewide fitness testing and use it to further a culture of school-based physical activity and health