This dissertation examines the impact of city-level characteristics (immigration-friendliness index, unemployment rate, and the percentage of Democrat Party votes) on the psychological resiliency of Latino immigrants. In the light of increased attention on the immigrant issue throughout the world, this study aims to develop our understanding of the factors that have the effect on the resiliency of immigrant populations. This dissertation examines these different characteristics by examining five different cities in Texas: Austin, Dallas, Fort-Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. The survey was distributed through the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to those individuals who define themselves Hispanic or Latino. Results suggest that the city characteristics have a significant impact on the resiliency of Latino immigrants suggesting that local governments have a potential capability to increase the resiliency of the immigrant groups in the United States by embracing the notion that immigrants should be integrated into the fabric of the local community.

Chronic health conditions in youth have increased over the last several decades. It is estimated that within the United States there are between 15% to 18% of youth who are living with a chronic health condition (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010). The CDC defines a chronic health condition as an illness that lasts for three months or longer that can be managed, but not cured (CDC, 2010). Although there is some research on youth living with chronic illnesses, there are minimal studies that assess the constructs of health literacy, resiliency, and support/advocacy within this population. The current investigation was a validity study of the Health Literacy and Resiliency Scale (HLRS). This is a newly developed 37-item measure that assesses the level of health literacy, resiliency, and support/self-advocacy among chronically ill youth (Bradley-Klug, Shaffer-Hudkins, Lynn, DeLoatche, & Montgomery, 2017). Specifically, the study correlated the construct of resiliency in the HLRS with the resiliency construct from the Child Youth and Resiliency Measure (CYRM; Ungar & Liebenberg, 2011). This measure is a 28-item measure that assesses levels of resiliency among youth and young adults. The goals for this study included: 1) determining the extent to which the results of the factor analysis from the current study are consistent with the three-factor model from the original study, 2) assessing the relationship between the HLRS and the CYRM, and 3) determining the reliability (internal consistency) of the scores of the HLRS. More importantly, since there have only been preliminary analyses conducted on the psychometric properties for the HLRS, this study was the first step towards providing validation for this measure. Participants were recruited through several methods including community-based organizations and online outlets. There were a total of 226 participants, with 54% identifying as White, 31% African American, and the remaining identifying as other. Sixty-one percent were female. The participants were English-speaking with a diagnosis of a chronic health condition given at least six months prior. Some of the conditions that were frequently identified among the sample included: diabetes, HIV, lupus, cystic fibrosis, ADHD, and asthma. Individuals were asked to complete the HLRS, CYRM, and a demographic survey online. The results indicated that the reliability of the values of the three factors in the HLRS ranged from acceptable to excellent. The results also included a correlation between the scores from the HLRS and CYRM. For the HLRS there were strong correlations between the resiliency and support/self-advocacy factors and health literacy and support/self-advocacy factors. For the CYRM, there was a strong correlation (r =.954) with the resiliency factor indicating that the resiliency factor within the HLRS aligns with the resiliency construct that is measured in the CYRM. Some items on the HLRS loaded on more than one factor indicating the need for further consideration of particular items on that scale. Overall, these data provide additional support for the HLRS scale and suggest that the scale may be a step closer to being utilized in applied settings.

The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the perspectives of five participants representing the school district and community regarding the achievement gap between Black and White students. This study attempted to answer two major questions: 1. What are the components of their perspectives and how they are formed? 2. What beliefs support or hinder that perspective? In this study social conflict theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study, harnessing the concept of resiliency as a new paradigm shift looking at Black students and community not as "deficient" or "deficits" but implementing their unique cultural assets and strengths to help close the achievement gap. Trends show that academic disparities between Black students and White students are complicated by many factors, including family poverty, limited neighborhood resources, displacement of communities due to gentrification and/or government interventions, lack of power, placement into lower-track classes and often community hostility towards the current public education system in general. These disparities contribute to the academic achievement gap. Historically, these disparities have challenged, Black students ability to survive, cope and sustain resiliency. This study looked at resiliency can be used and embraced so that Black students can become their own advocates for change including inside the educational arena and in their external environments to help close the achievement gap. This study relied on qualitative research methods, which is an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry. The participants were selected according to the roles they play within the community and school district. Interviews were conducted two times with each of the participants regarding their perspectives. Other data was compiled from field notes and the researcher reflective journal. The data was coded and analyzed concerning the participants perception of the achievement gap. The major findings of this study reveal that organizational vision, a true collaborative partnership between the district and community and the political will to change is key to closing the achievement gap. Each of the participants have a dual vision for the future, one, that recognizes the centrality of closing the achievement gap. They also reveal that present and past political policies are contributing factors as well.

The initial 72 hours after a large-scale crisis are critical in terms of preserving life and property, and the private sector and its critical infrastructure are often called upon to assist government organizations in such events. However, little research explores the unique circumstances surrounding the relationship between public-private partnerships and community resilience in strategic communities including military installations and ports. Using Bryson, Crosby, and Stone's conceptualization of cross-sector collaboration, the purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop a theory of private sector engagement and collaboration with military base and port community leaders in response to large scale crises. Data were collected through interviews with 43 public, private, and military sector leaders in six strategic communities of the East, Gulf, and West coasts. Data from ReadyCommunities Partnership symposia summaries were also considered. Data were coded and analyzed using Eisenhardt's grounded theory procedures. Findings resulted in the identification of emergent themes from which the mutual mission theory emerged. This theory acknowledges the key elements of tension between private sector incentives to collaborate and the undercurrent of sector-silo bias. Further, the findings of this study support collaboration through policy with incentives to institutionalize extraordinary community-based mutual missions while overcoming sector-silo bias. Positive social change may be achieved through utilization of the applied mutual mission theory by military base and port community leaders in order to better leverage private sector engagement in response to national crises.

Flood severity and frequency have grown over the years as a result of urban development and climate change. Floods in cities cause major challenges such as property and infrastructure damage, transportation congestion, loss of life, environmental threats, and health concerns. To relieve the load on the urban drainage system and prevent flooding, effective measures to strengthen its resilience are required. Traditional design methods, which rely on past performance trends and long lifespans, usually result in infrastructure that is inflexible and unable to adapt to changing situations. Those traditional studies focused on drainage design, such as pipe slope and diameter optimization, coupling design cost limitation. Furthermore, various terminologies for the overall concept of green/grey infrastructure have been proposed in the literature. Some studies have been focused on the optimization of the suitable locations for storage tanks, which would be one of the most efficient approaches. Building storage facilities such as retention or detention basins are a cost-effective and efficient structural option to improve the resilience of urban sewerage system, reducing peak runoff in existing drainage systems in urban areas, especially compared to traditional methodologies such as increasing pipe diameter or slope providing sufficient hydraulic capacity. The basic concept is to create an optimization framework using Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA II), coupling with hydraulic model SWMM, and use it to change a number of drainage system-related variables such pipe diameter, slope, and storage unit size. The main idea of the optimization framework in thesis is to combine different methods into one framework, which is a challenge in a complex system due to the dilemma between the resilience objective and financial limitation. Literature review would shows that the recent research in terms of sewerage system resilience optimization utilizing different methodologies. Application of the system would shows that optimization model has the capability to improve the resiliency of urban sewerage system. The main objective of the thesis are (i) develop a new framework to optimize volume and location of storage units in urban drainage systems; (ii) develop a two-stage multi-objective optimization framework; (iii) develop the new index to make the optimization process feasible.

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In this phenomenological investigation, a qualitative approach to research methodology is utilized to explore the resiliency experiences of Black, Indigenous, people of color counselors in training (N = 12) at historically or predominantly White institutions. The participants represent multiple regions of the United States, spanning from the northeastern United States to the Pacific Northwest. Five themes were uncovered as a result of the interviews: (1) strategies for resiliency; (2) experiences with discrimination and oppression; (3) experiences of allyship and affirmation; (4) awareness of intersections and identity; and (5) call to action. I offer suggestions for ways to increase BIPOC student resiliency as well as increase student retention within counselor education programs and recommendations for creating nurturing and equitable classrooms to provide safety for marginalized students within counselor education programs.

No / Satellite networks are expected to support multimedia traffic flows, offering high capacity with QoS guarantees. However, system efficiency is often impaired by packet losses due to erasure channel effects. Reconfigurable and adaptive air interfaces are possible solutions to alleviate some of these issues. On the other hand, network coding is a promising technique to improve satellite network performance. This position paper reports on potential applications of network coding to satellite networks. Surveys and preliminary numerical results are provided on network coding applications to different exemplary satellite scenarios. Specifically, the adoption of Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) is considered in three cases, namely, multicast transmissions, handover for multihomed aircraft mobile terminals, and multipath TCP-based applications. OSI layers on which the implementation of networking coding would potentially yield benefits are also recommended.

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