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This transcendental phenomenological study aims to describe the lived experiences of secondary career and technical education (CTE) teachers in a Michigan public school district who collaborate with special education teachers to meet the instructional needs of students with special needs. The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s self-efficacy theory as it is used to assess CTE teacher confidence levels, and how those levels directly and indirectly affect their capacity to offer adequate instruction to CTE students with special needs through collaborative efforts. This research intended to answer this central research question: What are the experiences of CTE teachers who collaborate with special education teachers to meet the instructional needs of students with special needs? Four sub-questions extrapolate data regarding CTE teacher self-efficacy and its influence on their instructional adequacy. A qualitative transcendental phenomenological approach was employed. This study was conducted at high schools located in a northern suburb of a Michigan school district. The sample consisted of 10 CTE teachers. The data collection methods utilized were: (a) face-to-face interviews, (b) focus group interviews, and (c) physical artifacts. Analysis of the data utilized epoché, phenomenological reduction, and imaginative variation, as well as textural and structural descriptions for each data collection method. The research found that real and imagined hurdles limited CTE teachers' ability to fulfill special needs students' educational demands. Despite the fact that many educators want to improve their teaching practices and collaborate to achieve goals, not all educators are open to instructional collaboration.

This paper provides a qualitative account of how Critical Literacy instruction fosters reading growth in vocational-technical school settings. This study examines how critical literacy enriches learning outcomes within Career and Technical Education (CTE). The findings are that Critical Literacy skills are necessary for all readers because they positively affect student engagement and participation in learning, especially if presented in a way that allows students to have an active role in their learning. Examples of how to integrate Critical Literacy instruction into CTE classrooms are presented and discussed. These instructional practices go beyond traditional reading comprehension skills. The conclusion is that incorporating Critical Literacy curricula into CTE programs can lead to a better understanding of the diverse world in which students must plan their futures. All readers need Critical Literacy skills to use in all career pathways. Ultimately, these results revealed that Critical Literacy instruction leads to better classroom participation in reading activities than when using traditional reading comprehension alone.

This study aimed to provide a quantitative analysis of industry’s perception of the effectiveness of community colleges, specifically from industries in the advanced manufacturing sector, within the state of Michigan. This study investigated interactions, awareness, and perception of effectiveness by industry leaders with community college CTE initiatives through an anonymous survey provided to employers throughout the State of Michigan. Astin’s (1984) theory of student involvement and his input-environment-output (I-E-O) model (Astin, 1993) were utilized as the theoretical and conceptual frameworks in the study. The perceptions definition chosen for this study closely aligned with the theory of student involvement and the conceptual framework. Perceptions was the dependent variable, and its context was chosen from a quantitative study conducted by Bers (2013) of both higher education leaders and business/industry executives highlighted the gap between the parties relative to their perceptions of the effectiveness of the local community colleges. A block form of stepwise multiple regression analysis applied using the I-E-O model determined which input and environmental independent variables predicted effectiveness of community colleges. The regression results identified 5 statistically significant predictors of employer’s perceptions, four of which were positive and one of which was negative. Input characteristics accounted for 37% of the variance, comprised of one awareness and three involvement characteristics and the single negative predictor: aerospace industry. Involvement, specifically working with the local college to identify and hire qualified employees, and awareness of options for involvement, explained 49% and 38% of the variance, respectively. The study produced a few policy and practice implications. First, this study highlighted the importance of the establishment of policies to support localized employer needs. These policies, when developed and enacted locally, provide a framework for how colleges respond based upon input and insight from the employer base with a local community. The development of new policies that place the needs of employers within a geographic region of the community college has a powerful impact on economic development. Such policies have far-reaching benefits, not only for individuals who enroll and complete academic and workforce programs but also for the local employers who often have difficulty finding qualified employees. Secondly, Community colleges can incentivize potential students from said companies by offering tuition discounts, streamlined admission practices, and developing cohorts that allow employees to take classes and complete programs with colleagues from their companies. Additionally, colleges can improve the referral pathway from the state of Michigan agencies tasked with talent development and creation to have seamless programs that support employer growth and retention. Numerous opportunities exist to increase awareness and ultimately engagement between employers and community colleges including presence on program advisory boards, listing of open positions within college’s Career Services offices, and increasing of apprenticeships/co-ops and sponsorship of college events.

Neuroinflammation has been linked to the pathogenesis of many diseases, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by exposure to repeated head impacts (RHI) from a variety of sources, including contact sports and military injury. CTE is characterized neuropathologically by the deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) in neurons as neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and neurites at the depths of the cortical sulci in an irregular pattern. In addition to p-tau accumulation, there is also an accumulation of pigment-containing macrophages around small blood vessels in the white matter and widespread microglial inflammation in CTE. Macrophage and microglial inflammation can be beneficial to tissue repair, but if persistent, can precipitate neurodegeneration. This study quantified the density of perivascular CD68+ macrophages in the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLF) white matter, a brain region known to be affected early in CTE in post-mortem brain tissue from 46 individuals, 7 controls (mean age: 46.14, SD: 11.39, range: 22-55), 20 individuals exposed to RHI without CTE (mean age: 22.75, SD: 3.65, range: 17- 29), and 19 individuals, all of them American football players, with pathologically verified CTE (mean age: 25.11, SD: 2.92, range: 18-29). Brain tissue was provided by the Injury and Traumatic Encephalopathy (UNITE) brain bank and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) brain bank. Comparisons were made between controls, individuals exposed to RHI without CTE, and individuals with CTE. Fixed tissue samples of the DLF cortex and white matter were cut at 10μm and stained with CD68 to mark perivascular macrophages. Slides were imaged with a brightfield microscope at 40x magnification and analyzed using the HALO image software analysis platform. In the total population, a one-way test of variance (ANOVA) revealed a statistically significant increase in perivascular macrophages, indicated by CD68 positive pixels, in Stage III CTE compared to controls (p

In addition to equipping high school students with the knowledge and skills needed for college success, secondary school leaders must also consider if, how, and to what extent students are learning career skills and habits that add value to an ever-changing global economy. To address this need, some school leaders are turning to Career and Technical Education programs of study. Using Seidman’s three-series approach of interviewing, this qualitative, collective case study examined the college and career readiness perspective and practices of seven comprehensive high school administrators in Central Ohio who lead CTE programs in their respective schools. From the analysis of the data, nine thematic leadership implications emerged, which include: (1) equipping students with the knowledge and skills to be college and career ready, (2) embracing CTE programs as technology advances, (3) keeping CTE programs in comprehensive high schools due to limited access in career centers, (4) focusing CTE programs on the needs and interests of students, (5) engaging high school students in CTE programs despite challenges, (6) supporting staff and repurposing spaces with resiliency and creativity, (7) partnering with higher education and industry to provide post-secondary experiences, (8) encouraging policymakers to interact with students to cause positive change, and (9) articulating CTE program needs to central office leadership to improve student outcomes. These findings provide fresh insights on the role that comprehensive high school administrators play as the synthesizing agent to meet the needs of students as well as the expectations of industry through the implementation of CTE programs of study.

Thermoset polymers are widely used due to their low cost and versatile high-performance material properties. These materials have found primary applications as heterogenous mixtures (composites) in adhesives, encapsulants, and more. However, thermosets and composites are known to have large coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE), which differ from the CTE of the substrates they are often applied to. A large CTE mismatch results in localized stress and sometimes cracking of the substrate, precluding utility of such thermosets/composites in certain applications, such as optoelectronics where adhesives and encapsulants would be highly beneficial. Remedies for this problem include using fillers such as silica or inorganic metals to lower the CTE of the composites, but these solutions can increase the mass and materials cost and shorten device lifetime. The incorporation of negative coefficient of thermal expansion (NTE) materials into the polymer backbone as a tunable handle has emerged as a promising alternative. The following thesis will describe a six-step regiospecific synthesis to obtain a diepoxy-substituted dibenzocyclooctene (DBCO) derivative that is anticipated to exhibit improved NTE behavior relative to state-of-the-art materials

Career readiness is an area of youth development that is often overlooked in secondary education. Preparing students for the professional world is especially important for high school students, who upon graduation, will have to decide to pursue postsecondary education or a career. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs, which involve teaching youth employable knowledge and skills, have been shown to assist students in transitioning more seamlessly from high school to college and careers. Work experiences, such as jobs and internships, have also been found to support adolescent career readiness. Currently, there is not a widely used quantitative measure for assessing career readiness. Through a quasi-experimental design, this study will utilize the Career Maturity Inventory Form C (CMI-C) to examine the influence of CTE programming, work experience, and the interaction of these interventions on the career readiness of high school seniors.

Do federal policies influence program offerings for career and technical education(CTE)? Often the implication of compliance and the expectation of connecting compliance to funding is considered a tactic to leverage expectations on a large scale. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if the CTE programs located in a singular region of Texas were compliant with federal expectations by way of evaluating the alignment of programs offered and local labor markets prior to the implementation of Perkins V. The evaluation of a variety of archival data and subsequent findings of the correlation of alignment of programs within the region along with the amount of federal Perkins's dollars spent on CTE was a confirmed as an effective policy reform measure. Additional evaluations included the combination of federal and state spending in correlation to the number of programs offered in career and technical education along with the actual CTE student enrollment of a given district. Major findings showed that through a moderation analysis for some districts the number of programs offered could be influenced by program funding and size. In addition, this study confirmed that many programs are indeed compliant, however compliance does not guarantee program opportunities when resources and enrollment are abundant. Recommendations for future studies concerning administrative decisions for programming and compliance are discussed.

In Georgia, high school graduates are expected to be college and career ready, however due to recent educational legislative changes the focus has been placed on being college ready. These modifications have led to a low number of graduates completing a Career Technical Education (CTE) pathway as well as a low number of graduates passing their CTE End-of-Pathway assessments and earning industry credentials. To assist in determining the factors that have led to the devaluation of CTE by Georgia graduates, a critical qualitative inquiry study was conducted on a sample of 13 graduates from Wonderwood High School, in South Heights, Georgia. The study aimed to identify how the graduates of Wonderwood would both describe the perceived value of completing a CTE pathway as well as how they view CTE curriculum objectives and their relationship to their post-secondary plan(s). In-depth phone interviews were conducted, transcribed, coded and the data analyzed to determine overarching themes. The first theme developed involved the graduates’ awareness of CTE curriculum’s value and purpose, of which 100% of the graduates stated that CTE adds value to a student’s education and allows for career exploration. However, the results indicated that they did not have this opinion until after they had graduated and entered a post-secondary institution. The participants acknowledged skills attainment, Advanced Placement (AP) versus Dual Enrollment (DE), Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) school evaluation measures and misinformation from Non-CTE faculty and staff as the reasons they saw a lack of CTE value while attending Wonderwood. The second theme comprised of the cultural/societal influences impacting the graduates’ participation in CTE of which a lack of student voice, power dynamics, social reproduction and the idea of hidden curricula were indicated as leading to Non-CTE completers feelings towards how CTE impacts post-secondary readiness. To assist in alleviating the devaluation of CTE in Georgia, the secondary education process must entail active participation from all stakeholders to include teachers, parents, administrators, counselors, and students with the goal of determining the educational path required for a student to become successful in their post-secondary plan.

The aims of this project were to accurately measure and describe speech characteristics of professional fighters; and to analyze the future potential of using speech characteristics as biomarkers for acquired neurogenic decline or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The Professional Fighters Brain Health Study (PFBHS) is a longitudinal project investigating the effect of repeated head trauma in professional combatants. The PFBHS provided recorded speech samples for this project. This study measured accurate speech characteristics of 102 professional boxers and mixed martial artists and compared these results to a group of 27 age-matched healthy controls. Analysis revealed a significant difference in articulation rate between fighters and controls. Additionally, fighters produced more frequent interruptions in the forward flow of speech such as pauses and disfluencies. Clinical implications of this project include a better understanding of the speech symptoms associated with acquired neurogenic decline, or CTE.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate how female high school students who earned Career and Technical Education (CTE) completer status in a technology-based program of study (POS) in Virginia describe their experiences. CTE completer status is defined as having met the Virginia Department of Education’s CTE completer requirements in a technology-based POS. This study was guided by three theories: Self-efficacy theory was applied as it relates to the participants’ status as completers in a technology-based CTE POS; Role-congruity theory suggests that men and women occupy social roles with attendant stereotypes which contributed to how participants described their experience in a technology-based POS; Social cognitive career theory focuses on the factors influencing occupational choice-making. Using interviews, electronic discussion boards, and photo essays, the experiences of 12 participants who earned Virginia CTE completer status in a technology-based POS were examined to address the central research question: How do female high school students who earned CTE completer status in Virginia describe their experiences in a technology-based POS? Participants were selected through criterion sample. The data in this study was analyzed using the procedures of a transcendental phenomenology to gain a complete understanding of the participants' shared experiences as females who earned completer status in a technology-based CTE POS. After thorough analysis of the data, three themes emerged: (a) instructor influence on program and participant goals; (b) the impact of collaboration; and (c) guidance and support focused on the individual.

Repetitive head impacts (RHI) and traumatic brain injuries are risk factors for the neurodegenerative diseases chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Although distinct, these diseases can share an overlapping pathology (e.g. TDP-43) and affect similar brain regions. However, the pathways involved and biomarkers for diagnosis are unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are altered in disease, are involved in gene regulation, and may be useful as stable biomarkers. Thus, we set out to determine associations between miRNA levels and disease state within the prefrontal cortex in a group of deceased participants with no pathology (controls), CTE, ALS, or comorbid CTE+ALS. Of the 47 miRNAs previously implicated in neurological disease, 27 were significantly different between pathology groups. Of these, seventeen (63%) were upregulated in both ALS and CTE and included miRNAs involved in inflammatory, apoptotic and cell growth/differentiation pathways. Nine miRNAs (33%) were specifically upregulated only in ALS as opposed to only one miRNA (4%) with CTE specific upregulation. Surprisingly, few miRNAs (14%) were significantly altered in comorbid CTE+ALS, which may reflect the milder disease present at death in participants with both conditions. Overall, we found patterns of miRNA expression that are common and unique to CTE and ALS and that suggest common pathways of pathogenesis.

CTE is a progressive neurodegenerative disease defined by p-tau lesions in characteristic locations of the brain, leading to cognitive impairment as well as mood and behavioral dysfunction. Exposure to repetitive head impacts is a major risk factor for developing CTE; however, additional risk factors and secondary modulating factors, which may expand available treatment and prevention options, are still being elucidated. Studies into the glymphatic system, a system of waste clearance in the brain thought to be activated during sleep, have implicated glymphatic dysfunction in the clearance of toxic proteins like amyloid-beta and hyperphosphorylated tau, as well as in cognitive decline in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease, bringing into question whether sleep, through impacting glymphatic clearance, may act as a modulating factor in the development of CTE. In the present study, we began to characterize the presence of sleep disorders and their co-morbid conditions in a cohort of former college football players to gain better insight into their prevalence and the health outcomes of those with sleep conditions. Our results found higher rates of sleep apnea in the study sample, as well as an association between diagnosis with sleep apnea and diagnosis with dementia, AD, MCI, CTE, and similar disorders. Sleep apnea was significantly associated with depression, anxiety, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Further research into whether sleep disorders exacerbate CTE pathology or clinical symptoms, and whether treatment of sleep symptoms leads to better outcomes for patients with CTE, is necessary to further elucidate a potential connection.

The purpose of this non-experimental, quantitative study is to investigate the relationship between the use of project-based learning (PBL) by secondary business teachers and time spent in professional development of secondary business teachers for the teaching of 21st century skills. The four identified 21st century skills that will be researched include: (1) critical thinking, (2) collaboration, (3) communication, (4) creativity and innovation. A sample of 316 secondary business teachers were surveyed about their classroom practice and reflection of teaching 21st century skills. This study used a modified version of the 21st Century Teaching and Learning Survey. Survey results were analyzed for relationships using correlational and regression analysis. Business teachers reported a statistically strong relationship between the use of PBL and the teaching of 21st century skills. A statistically significant relationship between time spent in professional development and the teaching of 21st century skills was not found. Regression results indicated that the use of PBL had an impact on the teaching of 21st century skills. This research guides teachers, school administrators, and CTE directors at the state and district level towards the creation of professional development and implementation strategies when applying PBL methods in career and technical education settings.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a significant public health concern and has been a frequent topic in the media in recent years. Over the past decade, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has been suggested to be the result of repeated concussions and to involve symptoms such as deterioration in attention, concentration, and memory, among others, has also become the subject of much media attention. However, media articles about CTE often involve personal stories and anecdotes rather than any discussion of the limited CTE research. This is problematic because individuals who have sustained one or multiple mTBIs often use information from the media, along with information from other sources, such as healthcare providers and family members, to form beliefs about the identity, severity, consequences, and timeline of their injury and recovery. Media articles that sensationalize CTE or rely solely on personal anecdotes may lead individuals to form beliefs about their injury and expected recovery that are incorrect. Individuals who form such erroneous beliefs may be at increased risk of experiencing persistent symptoms after mTBI. The present study examined the impact of reading different types of CTE information on symptom endorsement, illness beliefs, and self-reported impairment in individuals with a history of mTBI. Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk) was used to recruit individuals with a history of mTBI, who were randomly assigned to read one of four articles. Participants (final N = 266 after exclusionary criteria) either read that symptoms after mTBI are severe and long-lasting, severe but not long-lasting, mild but long-lasting, or mild and not long-lasting. All participants completed self-report measures of illness perceptions and functional impairment as well as baseline questionnaires about demographics and mTBI history, health anxiety, neuroticism, and psychological distress. Contrary to expectations, there were no overall differences between groups on measures of illness perceptions or functional impairment. However, health anxiety moderated the relationship between severity and cogniphobia in females only such that at high levels of health anxiety, women who read that mTBI symptoms are severe reported greater fear that cognitive exertion might make symptoms worse or result in permanent brain damage. Overall, results suggest that, in individuals with a history of mTBI who do not have psychological risk factors, briefly reading information stating that the symptoms of mTBI are severe and/or long-lasting does not significantly increase their symptom endorsement or negatively impact their illness beliefs. However, individuals high in baseline health anxiety may be more susceptible to information about the severity of symptoms after mTBI. Overall, results have implications for treatment of individuals who experience persistent symptoms after mTBI.

The Career and Technical Center in Coalfield County School Division (pseudonym) has maintained a history of student enrollment in career and technical education (CTE) courses and programs that are traditional by gender. That history has changed very little over the years, and students, both male and female, continue to enroll in CTE courses at the career center that are traditional for their gender. This trend persists despite Virginia Department of Education support for non-traditional enrollment and Carl D. Perkins Act legislation which encourages non-traditional enrollment in CTE. The purpose of this qualitative research was to explore the perceptions of students, parents, teachers, administrators and counselors about student enrollment at the career center in CTE courses that are non-traditional. Through the use of individual interviews, the researcher gathered information from participants regarding their perceptions about barriers to non-traditional enrollment in CTE and also obtained participants' ideas about strategies for increasing non-traditional enrollment in CTE courses, courses that have the potential to positively impact students' career opportunities along with successful entrance into the work force. The results of this research will be shared with the school division as a potential resource for increasing non-traditional enrollment in CTE courses and programs at the career center.

Clinical Researchers recently identified NFL players and US military veterans as high-risk populations for sustaining repetitive Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and developing the neurodegenerative disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). American culture celebrates military veterans as national heroes, and NFL players as popular athletes and social icons. Both subcultures are constructed around hyper-masculine ideals embedded in tenants of violence and aggression, suffer repeated TBIs due to this nature, and are ultimately at high-risk for developing CTE. The TBI/CTE phenomenon also affects family members who assume care-taking responsibilities for these first two populations as their loved one’s symptoms persist. The purpose of this research is to understand the TBI/CTE experiences of NFL players, military veterans, and their caretakers, and how all three populations intersect with mediatization and the social and medical legitimation of TBI/CTE in America. Using narratives from all three populations, I explore how power dynamics within the NFL and US military have intersected with modern media outlets and functioned to socio-medically legitimize a sick role for those who suffer from persistent symptoms of TBI and CTE.

The long-term effects of repetitive head impacts are a growing concern. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is associated with repetitive head impacts and is characterized by distinct neuropathological changes. Other risk factors of developing CTE are still unknown but may include age, genetics, age of first exposure to sports and type of sport. The only way to diagnose CTE is with a post-mortem analysis. Current research is focused on diagnosing CTE during life; efforts are turning towards developing a clinically diagnosable syndrome that is related to CTE prognosis. Common symptoms reported from retrospective analyses of CTE confirmed cases include cognitive difficulties as well as mood and behavior symptoms like depression and impulsivity. The goal of the present study was to define the clinical presentation of a diverse group of former athletes in an effort to categorize a clinical presentation of individuals with various head impact exposure. The individuals in the sample included contact and non-contact sport athletes, both male and female, ranging from 19 to 86 years of age. The data was based on a larger study, the Longitudinal Examination to Gather Evidence of Neurodegenerative Disease (LEGEND). In a sample of 592 participants from this study, cluster analyses identified five discrete groups of individuals based on their symptom profile. These included Asymptomatic, Mildly symptomatic, Mood symptoms, Behavior symptoms and Highly symptomatic groups. Between the groups, there was no difference in age of participants. There was no prevalence of a certain sport in any of the clusters. Additionally, there was no significant finding regarding estimated number of head impacts and symptomatology in football players. Results showed an effect of cognitive reserve, measured by years of education. Participants in the Asymptomatic group had significantly more education. This implies that years of education may be a risk factor for decreasing one’s ability to cope with neuropathology. Further research needs to be done on the connection between symptomatology and neuropathological diagnosis.

Short term brain injuries such as ischemic stroke and concussions have been identified as risk factors for the long-term development of neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer’s Disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. These brain injuries are known to trigger a substantial release of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, into the synaptic cleft between neurons. The highly concentrated extracellular glutamate repeatedly activates post-synaptic receptors and induces an influx of cations into the post-synaptic neuron. This influx triggers a disruption of normal neuronal morphology and cytoskeletal structure, which may potentiate cell death. We observe that dendritic microtubule dynamics are rapidly disrupted by repetitive rapid glutamate receptor activation, and the disruption is negatively correlated to previously described aberrant F-actin reorganization. We also observe that neurons exposed to a transient excitotoxic stress can recover certain cytoskeletal features following an extended period of recovery, but may develop pathological microtubule-associated-protein tau aggregates that are associated with the aforementioned long term neurodegenerative pathologies. This suggests that transient excitotoxic glutamate stress may be a link between traumatic brain injuries and the development of long term neurodegenerative disease.

The literature highlighted the gaps in educational practice that result in 80% of students in the United States lacking college or career readiness upon high school graduation (Conley, 2007a). This critical case study utilized data from a single school district to learn how it rose above its counterparts across the same state in preparing its high school graduates for postsecondary opportunities. This study identified the best practices employed by one school district with discernibly high levels of college and career readiness for minority and general education students and answered the following research questions: 1. What strategies and systems did the superintendent employ to ensure college and career readiness within their district? 2. How did central office and campus personnel implement college and career initiatives? A critical case study was used to (a) conduct one-on-one interviews, (b) evaluate the district’s operational systems, (c) explore the central administration’s and superintendent’s actions, and (d) discover the external partners’ ability to contribute to the attainment of college and career readiness among students. Interviews were conducted with 10 district personnel, including the superintendent. The critical case school district received distinction-level recognition in college and career readiness. Research determined there are administrative strategies that will possibly have a positive impact on college readiness. Superintendents faced with maintaining accountability for students beyond graduation might find this study useful. This study might be beneficial for current and upcoming superintendents desiring to promote their expertise in college and career readiness in their current districts. The single case study generated data displaying those practices used effectively to prepare high school students for college and career readiness. The findings offer information to educational leaders and policy makers. The study’s findings might enable key school district leaders to reconcile accountability with aspirational effort.

The recent breakthroughs in the research of brain trauma as it relates to athletics has revealed never before seen damage linked with football participation. Known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), it is caused by activities inherent to the sport of football. School sponsored football has been granted immunity through case law and legislation in Texas. Recent research however indicates a different type of injury than those that school districts have been protected of liability from. This will provide a challenge to the immunity school districts have enjoyed regarding football. One route to abrogation of immunity is the state created danger provision established by the Supreme Court. The Fifth Circuit Court whose jurisdiction includes Texas has yet to officially adopt the state created danger theory. This research examined legal precedent to determine the challenge CTE may present the various layers of immunity surrounding school sponsored football in Texas.

The Federal Government has called for an overhaul of STEM education, saying that we as a nation must increase "opportunities for young Americans to gain strong STEM skills" (Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2013, p.1). Economically, these skills expand beyond those that make good doctors, professors, and engineers; there is a world of jobs going unfilled because our students are graduating without the skills or knowledge that such opportunities exist. To increase the future STEM workforce, we first need to increase student awareness of a variety of STEM careers early on (Tai et al., 2006). Career decisions are being made by students as early as middle school (Tai et al., 2006); and very little if any STEM career exploration is occurring before high school. This lack of early exposure to STEM career options means that students are likely making decisions about career choices without accurate information; choosing a path before knowing about all the options. This research is broken into two manuscripts; the first of which examined the impacts of design-based learning and scientific inquiry curriculum treatments with embedded career content on the career interest of fifth-grade students as compared to traditional classroom methods. It found that there is an upward trend in career interest with the use of these curriculum treatments, but it is not a significant change, likely due to the short time period of the unit and/or small n. The second manuscript examined the effect of a design-based learning curriculum treatment implementation for a single unit on Radford City Schools fifth-grade students' STEM attitudes and interest in STEM careers through a pre/post design. The study showed statistically significant growth in overall STEM attitudes and within the science subtest specifically. Career interest in the general field of science showed a significant increase, while a change of interest in specific career areas was not statistically significant. Collectively, this research serves as a foundation for the effectiveness of having career awareness and career exposure opportunities built into active learning instruction, which does not occur currently. Built on secondary principles, but at a level appropriate for elementary students, using active learning opportunities with embedded career connections has the potential to be an effective solution to students' premature exclusion of STEM-related study and work options identified in the literature. Through preliminary exposure to this unique combination at the elementary level, a stronger foundation can be built for both ability and interest in STEM.

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of career and technical education (CTE) teachers regarding the importance they assign to indicators of quality teaching practice. The population consisted of CTE teachers who teach or taught in New Mexico. The first research question asked how CTE teachers perceive the importance of quality teaching indicators as they relate to what CTE teachers should know and be able to do. Subsequent research questions examined the degree to which four demographic categories (years of experience, level of education, discipline of instruction, and licensure type) influence CTE teachers’ opinions regarding the importance of teaching indicators. Data for this study were gathered using a survey instrument derived from Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (Danielson, 2014). Results from the questionnaire responses were analyzed using descriptive and comparative statistics. Responses were examined relative to the research questions. Findings indicate that CTE teachers generally rate as important the elements within each domain of the framework. This implies a degree of continuity between the beliefs of CTE teachers regarding effective practice and generally held assumptions of effective teaching practice in the profession at large. Overall, CTE teachers in all categories rated the elements in Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities as less important than the other three domains. Some differences in teacher opinion were also identified based on demographic characteristics, with the most notable differences between early career teachers and more experienced teachers. The findings from this research suggest opportunities for informing the preparation and professional development of CTE teachers.

This study explored the relationship between community college applicant educational aspirations, proximity of college to home, and the influence of homophilic factors on applicant choices. This quantitative study was conducted with archived applicant data from the 2013 academic year of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) applicants. The 2013 applicants intent to attending a MnSCU community college or technical college were included in the study; applicants intent on attending any of the seven state universities were excluded from the study. The dataset was assembled from the answers given by 28,520 applicants on the MnSCU Universal Application. The study results indicate a direct relationship between the applicants’ distance from home to MnSCU college of choice for both rural and metropolitan applicants. The study found a slight relationship between racial diversity with proximity of college of choice to home of record. The results showed no relationship to gender and proximity of college to home. This study also explored overall dispersion of educational levels that community and technical college applicants aspire for and their parents obtained in the population of 2013 MnSCU Universal Applications. The applicant educational aspiration trends were studied comprehensively among the 31 distinct MnSCU colleges across the state of Minnesota. The study conclusions were threefold: applicants overwhelmingly chose colleges within 5 miles of home; demographic factors had little influence on applicant decisions regarding educational degrees they intended to pursue; and demographic factors were highly prevalent in applicant choices of fields of study, especially in the rural community and technical college applicant cohorts. Keywords: Homophily, career and technical college, postsecondary education, CTE

BACKGROUND: Sports-related head trauma has become a major public health concern with significant consequences including persistent post-concussion syndrome (pPCS) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). pPCS is a condition where symptoms of single concussion persist years beyond the initial injury. CTE has been characterized as a condition with insidious onset following a latent period after substantial exposure to repetitive head impacts (RHI). Timing of symptom onset usually distinguishes these conditions, however in certain clinical situations a definitive diagnosis is not always clear. For these situations, a measurable distinguishing variable is necessary. LITERATURE REVIEW: Concussions are the most common form of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and are associated with a variety of neurological symptoms that usually resolve within weeks. Post-concussion syndrome (PCS) refers to cases where symptoms continue months beyond this window, and pPCS is defined as symptoms continuing over years. These conditions are temporally related single concussive events. CTE is the hallmark condition related to RHI and remains difficult to fully characterize as it currently can only be diagnosed post-mortem. Clinical features of CTE are similar to those of pPCS with notable behavioral/mood symptoms in its earliest stages, and progression to severe cognitive decline over time. Current research has shown executive dysfunction to be a common impairment among these conditions. The difference in level of dysfunction between them, if one exists, is yet to be measured. PROPOSED PROJECT: A cross-sectional analysis of executive function in four groups. A control without history of mTBI or football exposure (Non-Football – pPCS), a second control of asymptomatic subjects with football exposure (Football – pPCS), a group of pPCS patients with non-athletic mTBI history (Non-Football + pPCS), and a group of pPCS patients with football exposure (Football + pPCS). Executive functioning will be evaluated using the BRIEF-A assessment. Results will be compared to determine if significant differences in executive functioning exist between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: With previous studies showing a correlation between CTE pathological stage, worsening executive function, and increased RHI exposure, further investigation into using executive function as a distinguishing variable between early stage CTE and pPCS is warranted. SIGNIFICANCE: Results of this study, if significant, could be applied clinically to assess risk of early stage CTE in athletes with prolonged post-concussion symptoms. If results are not significant, they may still be utilized for a better understanding of the effects of isolated mTBIs and RHI on executive functioning, and provide valuable information for ongoing longitudinal studies.

BACKGROUND: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) is increasingly recognized as an adverse health consequence for athletes who participate in contact sports, such as football or boxing, as well as military personnel who are exposed to concussive blasts during training and combat operations. A consequence of this repetitive brain injury can be the development of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease involving the buildup of toxic phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in the pre-frontal cortical tissue. Additionally, it has been found that military personnel suffering repeated mTBI from primary blast concussions are prone to development of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a disease that is becoming increasingly common among returning service members. Because mTBI is a common cause for both PTSD and CTE, it is possible for the two diseases to manifest comorbidly in an individual. Though much is known about PTSD psychologically and CTE neuropathologically, little is known about the overlapping effect of the two diseases together as well as PTSD neuropathologically. What is known, however, is that aquaporin-4; a channel involved in the movement of water through the blood brain barrier, is often affected by CTE and may play a role in PTSD as well. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to primarily to analyze the disruption of aquaporin-4 around cerebral blood vessels due to chronic traumatic encephalopathy. A secondary objective of this project was to determine if any unique physiopathological biomarkers exist in PTSD and if the effects of CTE are exacerbated when present comorbidly with PTSD. METHODS: This study involved the analysis of multiple cohorts that had suffered from CTE, PTSD and CTE comorbidly, or neither disease as a control. In order to assess the primary objective, two cohorts, a CTE-only and a control, were analyzed to determine the effect of p-tau on aquaporin-4 directly around cerebral vessels in the pre-frontal cortex. The samples were cut from blocks and stained for the desired markers. Following staining, images were taken using a confocal microscope and the images were analyzed using Amaris and FIJI. For the secondary objective, samples were prepared in a similar way with three cohorts: CTE-only, CTE+PTSD comorbid, and a control. Images were obtained and processed in the same way. RESULTS: It was found that aquaporin-4 density is significantly reduced around both arterial and venous lesional vessels. Additionally, it was found that p-tau was more readily deposited in the depths of the sulci of the pre-frontal cortex due to the unique forces caused by repeated mTBI. However, PTSD was not found to significantly compound the disease when comorbidly present with CTE nor to have a unique biomarkers present. CONCLUSION: P-tau present in CTE causes a significant reduction in aquaporin-4 around cerebral vessels in the pre-frontal cortex, thereby potentially inhibiting the movement of fluids and clearance of metabolites into and out of the brain. Additionally, p-tau is more readily deposited in the depths of the sulci of the pre-frontal cortex. However, PTSD does not compound the CTE disease process when comorbidly present.

Woodpeckers can withstand 1200-1400 g of force during repetitive pecking. The forces a woodpecker’s skull and brain are subjected to warrants an in-depth investigation for the possible existence of neuro-trauma. Dr. Philip May and colleagues in 1976 published a paper titled “Woodpeckers and Head Injury” detailing two woodpeckers and one toucan control. The group utilized ferrocyanide staining, a general stain used for detecting iron deposits, on the sections. The results of these stains were not reported in Dr. May’s paper, yet he and his colleagues conclude that “clearly the woodpecker’s brain is protected somehow from impact and vibration injury.” Close to 115 journal articles have cited this one paper as the standard for woodpeckers not incurring brain injury during pecking. Due to limited studies on the woodpecker brain and the fact the woodpecker is a model for advancing helmet technology, we set out to study the woodpecker’s brain for signs of injury. Taking 10 different ethanol preserved woodpeckers from all parts of the world in different climates, and five non-woodpecker, ethanol preserved red-winged black bird experimental controls, paraffin embedded sections were cut and stained. A piece of human Alzheimer’s disease cortex was also used as a positive control. We utilized Gallyas silver stain for the study of neurofibrillary tangles and tauopathies as well as anti-phospho-tau and anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunostaining to detect tau protein and GFAP respectively. The results demonstrated perivascular silver-positive deposits in the superficial cortex and axonal tract injury of eight out of the 10 woodpeckers. The anti-phospho-tau immunostaining stained axonal tract injury in two of the three woodpeckers studied. The red-winged back birds demonstrated no positivity for all three stains. The Alzheimer’s positive control showed silver positive and phospho-tau positive staining as expected. This is the first study of this kind to discover and label potential brain injury in the woodpecker model. The negative staining of the red-winged black bird controls contrasted with the positive staining woodpecker sections suggest pecking in the woodpecker may induce brain injury. When addressing the development of safety equipment, the use of the woodpecker model should be approached with caution. Moving forward, research into different immunostaining molecular targets and an age controlled woodpecker and experimental control study should be performed to determine if the brain injury seen with our research is age-dependent.

Short-term and long-term neurological damage as a result of sports-related brain trauma is a major concern for athletes today. In the last decade, studies of subconcussive repetitive head impacts (RHI) in contact sports have found associations with functional and structural brain changes, even in the absence of diagnosed concussion. Risk and thresholds for brain dysfunction in the setting of sports-related RHI remain poorly understood. This prospective study enrolled 119 athletes (72 contact, 47 noncontact) of both sexes (79 male, 40 female), to explore the effect of one season of subconcussive RHI on brain function in high school football, boys lacrosse, and boys and girls soccer versus a comparison group of noncontact athletes. This study is the first to assess the effects of one season of RHI exposure on traditional and novel cognitive measures as well as self-reported emotion, sleep and headache in high school athletes. Contact sport athletes wore a commercial accelerometer to investigate if there is a dose-response relationship between RHI exposure and brain function. Paired t-test comparisons of all measures revealed contact sport athletes were not different than noncontact athletes in experiencing negative changes over the course of one season on the assessment battery. Given the number of subjects evaluated and the resultant power to detect change, this study had an 82.5% power to detect a Cohenʼs d of 0.66. Regression analysis of multiple measures of RHI among contact sport athletes did not identify a significant relationship between exposure and changes in cognition, emotion, sleep or headache over one season. Secondary analyses found significant relationships between a greater number of total head impacts at postseason assessment and higher scores on NIH Emotion Battery elements Perceived Stress (p=0.0002) and Perceived Hostility (p=0.0004), but it was unrelated to total years of football exposure. Overall, this study showed that there does not appear to be an association between one season of RHI exposure and short-term changes in cognition or self-reported aspects of emotion, sleep, or headache. Results from this study may help in the design of future investigations that will increase our understanding of the short-term consequences of RHI. Future studies should concentrate on the question of a clinically significant threshold at which RHI above a certain magnitude is more likely to cause brain dysfunction.

Previous literature has exposed the impact of concerns and beliefs on a teacher's decision to adopt online teaching methods, and in particular for Graphic Communications teachers, the extent to which their concerns and beliefs influence whether or not they decide to teach online. The potential problem that may exist is that of Graphic Communications teachers' concerns and beliefs are playing a role in impeding their transitioning to teaching in the online environment. The purpose of this study was to examine how teacher concerns and beliefs might be affecting a Graphic Communications teacher's adoption of online teaching. Although there are a multitude of factors that may inhibit Graphic Communications teachers from teaching online, this study sought to document the extent to which teacher concerns and beliefs toward online teaching impact their decision to adopt these practices. This study included a purposeful sample of 79 Graphic Communications educators across the United States and Canada. Data collected from the Graphic Communications Teachers Beliefs Towards Teaching Online (GCTBTTO) survey were analyzed using the Stages of Concern scoring device, simple means, and sample correlation coefficients to examine participant concerns and beliefs towards online teaching and the relationship between their concerns and beliefs. A theme analysis of open-ended responses about teaching online provided further assessment of participant beliefs and concerns towards the innovation. Findings from this study revealed Graphic Communications teachers who had taught online had higher levels of external concerns and stronger beliefs towards teaching online. Graphic Communications teachers who had not taught online had higher levels of internal concerns and average beliefs towards teaching online. T-tests revealed the difference in concerns between the sub-groups of teachers was significant across all stages except Management, where online and non-online teachers had similar management concerns about online teaching. For online teachers, task value and cost beliefs were found to have a moderately strong negative correlation to concerns in the Awareness stage, with no significant relationship between expectancy/ability beliefs and any stages of concern. For teachers not teaching online, task value and cost beliefs had a strong positive correlation with their Collaboration concerns, and expectancy/ability beliefs were strongly positively related to their Refocusing concerns. These findings also revealed that most Graphic Communications teachers do not believe hands-on courses which require manipulation of machinery can be taught online, although online teachers are teaching these types of classes with hybrid methods of instruction. The findings from this study provide implications for change facilitators and their consideration of faculty concerns and beliefs. The recommendations for this study suggest ways in which researchers, educators, and change facilitators can address concerns and beliefs in order to develop new innovative teaching methods for hands-on classes.

In the past decade, numerous studies have examined the correlation between repetitive head trauma in athletes who participated in contact sports and the development of various personality, behavioral, and cognitive changes. Autopsy data from these athletes have uncovered unique patterns of neuropathology that are believed to be associated with the observed clinical symptoms, and together characterize a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Historically, the condition was known as “dementia pugilistica” commonly found in boxers; however, recent studies have identified cases of CTE in retired football players, hockey players, soccer players, war veterans, and other non-athletes. CTE is a progressive disease and clinical signs often appear many years after the trauma. These symptoms frequently include depression, aggression, suicidality, short-term memory loss, and executive functioning impairments. Postmortem examinations of individuals with CTE reveal distinct gross and microscopic pathology, including atrophy of the frontal and temporal cortices, sulcal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau, -amyloid deposition, and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 abnormalities. Although current hypotheses suggest that repetitive head trauma causes the development of CTE, the lack of prospective studies hinders our ability to definitively determine its etiology. Likewise, the inability to diagnose CTE in vivo has constrained our attempts to systematically examine the disease’s progressive nature. The goal of this paper is to review the past and current literature on CTE in boxers and football players. We also discuss current hypotheses concerning CTE’s clinical presentation and neuropathology, and situate CTE within the context of other neurodegenerative diseases. Finally, we address the current limitations of CTE research and propose key objectives for future studies.

Social interest and recent advance in technology have made concussions on the largest topics is scientific research today. Knowledge continues to be uncovered and more data and information is studied on the effects of concussions and links to later in life cognitive decline. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have been known consequences of chronic traumatic encephalopathy but with recent findings in retired football players, more research is needed to show the correlation between concussions and the effects on cognition. Furthermore, with millions of youth athletes participating in sports each year, the impact of concussions on development and maturation need to be further researched. Initial retrospective studies seem to show the correlation between early in life concussions and decreased cognitive function later in life but longitudinal studies are lacking. Cognitive function data collected in longitudinal studies may help to show how early changes in function may be able to be identified and prevent further decline from repetitive impacts. Studies such as this would help fill the gap in research that could change youth sports as well as medical treatment and prevention to youth concussions.

In the study of diseases such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the ability to gather retrospective estimates of an individual’s total repetitive head impacts (RHI) is paramount. Although the exact mechanism responsible for the development of CTE is still unknown, it is well accepted that RHI play a critical role. Until recently, however, the methodology used to collect retrospective estimates of RHI have been very limited. In the beginning of 2016, Montenigro et al. from the Boston University’s Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center published a new method of RHI estimation called the Cumulative Head Impact Index (CHII). The CHII was developed by collecting self-reported football histories (years of play, positions of play and levels of play), and using that data to extrapolate the findings of short-term helmet-accelerometer studies into career-long estimates of cumulative head impacts. In addition to publishing this new method, Montenigro et al. (2016) also determined that the CHII was very successful at predicting later-life neurobehavioral and cognitive impairment, an essential ability of any RHI estimate intended to be used in CTE research. Participants in the Montenigro et al. (2016) analysis were part of an ongoing longitudinal study where individuals take yearly surveys of their neurobehavioral and cognitive well-being in addition to answering surveys about sports participation, head injuries and overall wellbeing. Participants had played football at the high school or college level, but had not played any other contact sports. This thesis serves as an initial validation of that publication, and also tests the ability of the CHII to predict later-life impairment in a more diverse population of athletes. Participants in this thesis were selected from the same ongoing longitudinal study according to two distinct sets of inclusion and exclusion criteria. For the purposes of conducting a validation study, the first set of criteria were identical to those used by Montenigro et al. (2016). The second experimental set allowed for participants who had participated in a secondary contact sport if it was at the high school level or below. These two sets of criteria resulted in 70 “validation” participants, and 82 “experimental” participants. Using the same methods as Montenigro et al. 2016, we calculated the CHII for all participants, and examined the ability of the CHII to predict later-life impairment. Our findings validated that the CHII was indeed successful at predicting later-life impairment from cumulative head impacts among the validation group of 70 participants. In particular, the CHII successfully predicted a threshold dose-response relationship between CHI and apathy (p >0.001), depression (p >0.001), executive function dysregulation (p >0.001), and self-reported cognitive impairment (p >0.001). We then found that the CHII was much less successful at predicting impairment in the experimental group of 82, only finding significance in measures of apathy (p=0.0502) and executive function dysregulation (p=0.0277). Overall, our findings indicate that the CHII is an excellent improvement in methods of estimating RHI in people whose only contact sport is football.

The technological nature of the world we live in has produced a need for a workforce that is technologically savvy and possesses 21st century skills and abilities. Given that students with a learning disability (LD) may be an untapped source of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or career and technical education (CTE) potential, it is important to understand 1) whether LD students are capable of pursuing STEM and CTE fields and 2) what will aid them in successfully pursuing those fields. The two studies presented aim to answer those questions through a latent profile and latent class analysis. The results from the first study indicated that there are two STEM capable profiles of LD students: High-STEM and CTE Capability or Low-STEM Capability. It was found that female LD students were significantly more likely to be in the High-STEM and CTE Capability profile (.75, p < .05) by 2.11 times and that African-American LD students were significantly more likely to be found in the Low-STEM Capability profile (-1.31, p < .10). It was also more prevalent for LD students to pursue either STEM or CTE at the 2-year college regardless of what profile they resided in. Understanding a students’ STEM or CTE capability can play a role in how they prepare and plan for their future. For the second study it was found that LD students could be categorized into three engagement classes: Highly Engaged LD Students, Moderately Engaged LD Students, and Poorly Engaged LD Students. Again, gender played a role in students’ classification and it was found that female students were significantly more likely to be in the Moderately Engaged class (.22, p < .05). Results from this study also indicate that the 2-year pathway is the most traversed by LD students. LD students who were engaged in their IEP process, possess self-determination, and are able to utilize accommodations were more successful in pursuing a STEM and CTE field. Implications for postsecondary institutions will be discussed.

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 required that states set clear standards for what all students should learn, and hold schools accountable for student progress in the areas of language arts, reading, and mathematics to assess their abilities (USDOE, 2002). However, while NCLB emphasizes the core academic subjects (i.e., English, reading/language arts, mathematics science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography), it neglected to address Career and Technical Education (CTE) (i.e., agriculture; business and information technology; family and consumer sciences; marketing; health and medical sciences; technology; or trade and industry) in any part of the legislation. The purpose of this study was to compare the academic performance of CTE completers and non-CTE completers in the Commonwealth of Virginia on the Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading and mathematics assessments, and graduation rates. This study was modeled after and was an extension of a previous study by Blowe (2011), and represented a quantitative, quasi-experimental, correlational evaluation of ex post facto data to determine the effects of being a CTE completer on student academic success in high school. The findings show that the mean pass rate for CTE completers was higher than the mean pass rate for non-CTE completers for both the EOC Reading and EOC Algebra II SOLs, and that the mean graduation rate for CTE completers was higher than the mean graduation rate for non-CTE completers for each of the graduation cohorts years included in the study. An additional finding was the discovery of reporting discrepancies in division-reported data published by the VDOE. The findings in this study provided the researcher with valuable insight into the potential role of CTE in an improving schools model, including the utilization of a rigorous CTE curriculum as a strategy for improving SOL scores and graduation rates for all students. Additionally, this information may prove beneficial to educational and legislative leaders in developing policies governing CTE curriculum throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The purpose of this study was to identify leadership characteristics of technical school principals as perceived by technical center school principals, the superintendents, and the center's Joint Control Board of the regional technical centers of the Commonwealth of Virginia. A regional technical center principal position deals with a different administrative governing board, students from different high schools, and courses in the field of career and technical education. This study gathered and evaluated perspectives from the participating superintendents, Joint Control School Board members, and regional technical center principals to determine similarities and differences between the perceptions among these groups. The population selected for this study was comprised of the participating superintendents, school board members, and principals from all ten K-12 public school regional technical centers in the Commonwealth of Virginia during the 2014-15 school year. The results showed that the survey respondents ranked visionary and instructional leader as the top two characteristics for regional technical center principals. The results showed that superintendents and Joint Control School Board members ranked having a background or experience in career and technical education higher than principals ranked that characteristic. Joint Control Board Members ranked having a CTE degree significantly higher than principals and superintendents. Superintendents and Joint Control Board Members rated the principal's ability to articulate an instructional vision as having a significant relation to academic success higher than principals rated that characteristic. Survey respondents rated statement ten; persuasion is the ultimate tool for a technical center principal of public education, mean responses the lowest. All three survey respondents rated statement six; personal and professional integrity, honesty, and fairness are essential leadership characteristics for the public school regional technical center principal, mean responses the highest. Open-ended question sixteen, what other characteristics that are needed for the CTE leader of a regional technical center that have not been addressed?, revealed results that superintendents and principals indicated that personnel management was a valuable skill, that superintendents believed that building relationships with students and recruiting students along with having the ability to work with various stakeholders was important.

The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is one of the major factors responsible for distresses in concrete pavements and structures. Continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCPs) in particular are highly susceptible to distresses caused by high CTE in concrete. CRCP is a popular choice across the U.S. and around the world for its long service life and minimal maintenance requirements. CRCP has been built in more than 35 states in the U.S., including Texas. In order to prevent CRCP distresses, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has limited the CTE of CRCP concrete to a maximum of 5.5 x10-6 strain/oF (9.9 x10-6 strain/oC). Coarse aggregate sources that produce concrete with CTE higher than the allowable limit are no longer accepted in the TxDOT CRCP projects. Moreover, CTE is an important input in the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). Small deviations in input CTE can affect the pavement thickness significantly in MEPDG designs. Therefore, accurate determination of concrete CTE is important, as it allows for enhanced concrete structure and pavement design as well as accurate screening of CRCP coarse aggregates. Moreover, optimizing the CTE of concrete according to a structure’s needs can reduce that structure’s cracking potential. This will result in significant savings in repair and rehabilitation costs and will improve the durability and longevity of concrete structures. This study found that the CTEs determined from saturated concrete samples were affected by the internal water pressure. As a result, the TxDOT method yielded higher values than did the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) method. To further investigate the effect of internal water pressure, an analytical model was developed based on the poroelastic phenomenon of concrete. According to the model, porosity, permeability, and the rate of temperature change are the major factors that influence the internal water pressure development. Increasing the permeability of concrete can reduce the internal water pressure development and can thus improve the consistency of measured CTE values. Preconditioning concrete samples by subjecting them to several heating and cooling cycles prior to CTE testing and reducing the rate of temperature change improved the consistency of the CTE test results. Concrete CTE can be reduced by blending low-CTE aggregates with high-CTE aggregates and reducing the cement paste volume. Based on these findings, a concrete CTE optimization technique was developed that provides guidelines for the selection of concrete constituents to achieve target concrete CTE. A concrete proportioning technique was also developed to meet the need for CTE optimization. This concrete proportioning technique can use aggregate from any sources, irrespective of gradation, shape, and texture. The proposed technique has the potential to reduce the cement requirement without sacrificing performance and provides guidelines for multiple coarse and fine aggregate blends.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by repeated concussive or subconcussive blows to the head. Clinically, this disease is characterized by cognitive dysfunction, short-term memory loss, and motor deficits. Pathologically, deposition of the abnormal protein tau, cerebral atrophy, and white matter degeneration is common. CTE has been categorized into Stages I-IV based on increased severity of protein deposition and cerebral atrophy. Acutely, mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) damages the long white matter tracks in the corpus callosum. In addition, it initiates a neuroinflammatory cascade aimed at protecting healthy tissue by clearing any toxic or damaging debris. This cascade results predominantly from the activation of the resident immune cells of the brain, microglia. Inflammation begins immediately and then subsides weeks or months after injury. However, pathological chronic activation of microglia can occur that can cause cell death and degeneration. Several studies have linked traumatic brain injury as well as chronic neuroinflammation to a variety of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The present study quantifies the level of inflammation found in the brains of those diagnosed with varying stages of CTE compared to normal, healthy controls. The thickness of the corpus callosum was measured to investigate the correlation between microglial density and white matter degeneration. Cases were selected from the donated brains of former athletes and military veterans who had a history of repetitive mild TBI. Eleven healthy control cases, ten early stage (Stage I/II), and nine late stage (Stage III/IV) CTE cases were selected for analysis. Tissue sections of the anterior and posterior cingulate of each case were stained for microglia, reactive astrocytes, and macrophages using IBA-1, GFAP, and CD68 markers. The percent area stained of each section was calculated to compare inflammatory cell density across progressive stages of the disease. Analysis showed a significant thinning of the corpus callosum of Stage III/IV CTE cases compared to normal controls. There was a significant decrease in microglia and reactive astrocytes of both the anterior and posterior portions of the corpus callosum in both early and advanced stage CTE cases compared to healthy controls. Corpus callosum thickness was significantly decreased in advanced stage (III-IV), but not early stage (I-II) disease. Overall, this suggests that neuroinflammation is decreased in the corpus callosum in CTE despite marked degeneration. Repetitive mild TBI might impair mechanisms of brain inflammation and repair.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by a tauopathy in the form of aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau throughout the CNS. Individuals suffering from CTE experience many different symptoms that result in dementia and severe cognitive decline along with a heightened occurrence of suicide. Repetitive mild traumatic brain injuries, such as concussions or subconcussive blows, are responsible for the development of CTE. Therefore, individuals who participate in contact sports, such as football and hockey, are at a high risk of developing this disease. Currently, there is no method for detecting CTE during life and the diagnosis can only be made at autopsy. At present nothing is known about the eye pathology of CTE. But if a distinctive profile of ocular abnormalities could be identified, it would raise the possibility that CTE could be diagnosed during life by an eye exam. For this research, ten eyes of individuals suffering from varying stages of CTE were collected, dissected, and observed under a microscope to find pathology associated with CTE. The antibodies of interest are pTDP-43, p62, αβ crystallin, and CP13. Pathology was found in the retina, mostly in the ganglion cell layer, throughout the different stages of CTE with the most severe pathology occurring in the most severe cases. These results can serve as a foundation for continued CTE research in the eye and ultimately result in potential ophthalmological diagnostic tests in individuals suffering from CTE.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are electrochemical energy conversion devices capable of producing electrical power with high efficiency and low emissions. SOFCs are characterized by ceramic electrolyte membranes which transport oxide ions in the range of temperatures between 600°C and 1000°C. In order to facilitate efficient, low-range temperature operation the electrolyte is typically made very thin, on the order of 40 µm. SOFCs also employ porous electrodes on either side of the electrolyte which are then placed in contact with current collectors and seals. In the fuel cell environment, with high temperatures, substantial thermal gradients, mechanical loading between layers, as well as the desire to be able to thermally cycle the cell, one of the layers or components must provide mechanical support. It is typical for either the anode or electrolyte to provide the necessary mechanical support.This thesis focuses on an electrolyte that is used for electrolyte-supported SOFC configuration. To address the need for mechanically robust electrolytes, NexTech Materials has developed the FlexCellTM electrolyte. This electrolyte design incorporates 40 µm thick conducting regions in a honeycomb pattern, and surrounding 200 µm thick stability regions. Various experiments on and determinations about this material and design must be made to ensure sufficient mechanical stability during fuel cell operation. Thermal stresses from high temperatures, temporal and spatial temperature gradients, and differential thermal expansion of contacting materials, are critical issues within SOFCs. The critical property related to these issues, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), was measured in this work. An apparatus to measure the CTE of the FlexCellTM electrolyte material was designed and implemented. The average CTE of 3 mol% Y2O3-ZrO2 (yttria stabilized zirconia or 3YSZ) was found to increase from 9 µm•m-1•°C-1 between room temperature (RT) and 180°C to nearly 11.5 µm•m-1•°C-1 from RT to about 650°C.A torch heating experiment was performed to study thermal gradients. For 200 µm thick YSZ electrolyte samples it was found that that heating experiment induced a directional dependence into unexpectedly large out-of-plane deflections. Digital image processing was used to capture deflection magnitudes which were compared against two finite element models. The two finite element models differed in how the through-thickness CTE variation was implemented. The first model contained a pseudo-continuous CTE gradient, whereas the second model contained an abrupt surface layer change in CTE. Both models were able to replicate the experimental results, thus pointing to CTE variation as the driving mechanism causing unexpected deflections in the experiments. Literature review and results from X-ray diffraction led to the conclusion that the tetragonal to monoclinic phase change in YSZ is the most likely reason for CTE change. It is proposed that the combination of heating and the initial tensile strain field are the root cause of this transformation.

The integration of career and technical education (CTE) and academic curricular content that capitalizes on natural and inherent connections represents a challenge for CTE professionals. The research question that was used to guide the current study was: What are CTE teachers' perspectives of and experiences with the process of CTE and science content integration? And more specifically, to generate a grounded theory which explicates the process of CTE and science content integration from the perspective of CTE teachers. The CTE teachers expressed that the process of CTE and science content integration was a process of evolutionizing. From the perspective of the CTE teachers involved integrating CTE and science content resulted in their programs of study being adapted into something different than they were before the process of integration was begun. The CTE teachers revealed that the evolutions in their programs of study and themselves were associated with three other categories within the grounded theory: (a) connecting; (b) enacting; and (c) futuring. The process of CTE and science content integration represents a deep and complex episode for CTE teachers. The process of CTE and science content integration requires connecting to others, putting ideas into action, and an orienting towards the future.

The intent of this research was to model sensor degradation effects using an image chain applied to a synthetic radiance image. The model is relatively basic so that many types of sensors can be modeled. The sensor effects were applied in the frequency domain by cascading modulation transfer functions (MTF) and phase transfer functions (PTF) from the different stages of the image chain. The stages consist of the optical transfer function due to the aperture effects of the optical system. Noise due to photon arrival, the signal loss due to the transmission of the optics, the MTF due to the detector size, the MTF and PTF due to the Charge Transfer Efficiency (CTE) of the detector/electronics, and the noise associated with the electrical system. Each component is a spatial averager where the input radiance field is smoothed as it travels through each component in the chain. The system is intended to make the synthetic image look real while still preserving the radiometry of the scene. The components were modeled through functions written in the interactive data language (IDL). Results of the component modules show that indeed each component acts as a spatial averager in the system.