Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the 14-24 year age group in the United States. However, awareness and discussions regarding suicides for this age group are not widely heard or found. In addition, many practitioners are not adequately trained to assess suicide risk. School counselors are often on the front lines of identifying students at risk for emotional issues and possible suicidal ideation (ASCA, 2010). The following research questions guided this study: a) Does a school counselor's knowledge in identifying students at risk for suicide affect their willingness to conduct suicide risk assessments? b) Does a school counselor's self-efficacy in conducting a suicide risk assessment affect their willingness to carry out the assessment with a student? c) Do school counselors who graduated from CACREP institutions after 2009 report increased knowledge in identifying suicidal students than those who graduated from non-CACREP institutions or from those who graduated before 2009? d) Do school counselors who graduated from CACREP institutions after 2009 report higher self-efficacy in counseling suicidal students than those who graduated from non-CACREP institutions or those who graduated before 2009? e) In which ways, if any, do the following counselor characteristic variables: type of graduate training and institution, years of experience, number of suicide assessments conducted, and participation in crisis response team, contribute to suicide risk knowledge and self-efficacy in conducting suicide risk assessments? This study examined the relationship between three variables (knowledge of suicide risk, self-efficacy in conducting suicide risk assessments, and willingness to carry out suicide risk assessments with students) for practicing school counselors through the use of a demographic questionnaire, the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory-II, and the Crisis Leader Efficacy in Assessing and Deciding Scale. A total of 200 high school counselors from across the United States participated in the study. All participants were anonymous. The statistical analyses were completed using the Software Program for Statistical Analysis (SPSS) using correlational matrices, hierarchical regressions, and one-way ANOVA analyses. Results revealed 71% of school counselors from the sample were performing suicide risk assessment every month however only 50% believed their graduate training adequately prepared them to assess for suicide. Results also showed self-efficacy was directly related to the number of suicide assessments school counselors conducted each month. In addition, the school counselor's willingness to conduct assessments, membership on a crisis team, and comfort identifying and assessing suicidal students related to their self-efficacy as well. Recommendations for school counselors include: continuing professional development related to suicide, securing administrative support to perform suicide assessment, and improving crisis response teams. Recommendations for counselor educators include: providing appropriate feedback, using evidence-based teaching methods, and increasing suicide related issues into coursework. Areas for future research are also discussed.

A pause on the bridge, a river-powered love song to liminal space, a memory that rolls forward as its surface is blown backward by the wind.

Rapid development of domain specialized medical imaging tools is essential for deploying medical imaging technologies to advance clinical research and clinical practice. This work describes the development process, deployment method, and evaluation of modules constructed within the 3D Slicer environment. These tools address critical problems encountered in four different clinical domains: quality control review of large repositories of medical images, rule-based automated label map cleaning, quantification of calcification in the heart using low-dose radiation scanning, and waist circumference measurement from abdominal scans. Each of these modules enables and accelerates clinical research by incorporating medical imaging technologies that minimize manual human effort. They are distributed within the multi-platform 3D Slicer Extension Manager environment for use in the computational environment most convenient to the clinician scientist.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States and is the leading cause of blindness in African Americans. Cupping or excavation of the optic nerve, which sends the visual signal from the photoreceptors in the eye to the brain, is a chief feature of glaucoma. A similar excavated appearance of the optic nerve is also the primary clinical sign of other congenital malformations of the eye including optic nerve head coloboma, optic pit, and morning glory disc anomaly collectively termed cavitary optic disc anomaly (CODA). Clinical similarities between CODA and glaucoma have suggested that these conditions may have overlapping pathophysiology. Although risk factors are known, such as the elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) observed in some glaucoma subjects, the biological pathways and molecular events that lead to excavation of the optic disc in glaucoma and in CODA are incompletely understood, which has hindered efforts to improve diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Consequently, there is a critical need to clarify the biological mechanisms that lead to excavation of the optic nerve, which will lead to improvements in our understanding of these important disease processes. Because of their similar clinical phenotypes and the limited therapy geared at lowering IOP in glaucoma patients, our central hypothesis is that genes involved in Mendelian forms of CODA would also be involved in a subset of glaucoma cases and may provide insight into glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The purpose of my research project has been to identify and functionally characterize the gene that causes congenital autosomal dominant CODA in a multiplex family with 17 affected members. The gene that causes CODA was previously mapped to chromosome 12q14 and following screening of candidate genes within the region that did not yield any plausible coding sequence mutations, a triplication of a 6KB segment of DNA upstream of the matrix metalloproteinase 19 (MMP19) gene was subsequently identified using comparative genomic hybridization arrays and qPCR. This copy number variation (CNV) was present in all affected family members but absent in unaffected family members, a panel of 78 normal control subjects, and the Database of Genomic Variants. In a case-control study of singleton CODA subjects, CNVs were also detected; we detected the same 6KB triplication in 1 of 24 subjects screened. This subject was part of another 3-generation autosomal dominant CODA pedigree where affected members each have the same CNV identified in the larger CODA pedigree. A separate case-control study with 172 glaucoma cases (primary open angle glaucoma = 84, normal tension glaucoma = 88) was evaluated for MMP19 CNVs, however none were detected. Although our cohort of CODA patients is small limiting our ability to accurately determine the proportion of CODA caused by MMP19 mutations, our data indicates that the MMP19 CNV is not an isolated case and additional CODA subjects may have MMP19 defects. Because of the location of the CNV, we evaluated its effect on downstream gene expression with luciferase reporter gene assays. These assays revealed that the 6KB sequence spanned by the CNV in CODA subjects functioned as a transcriptional enhancer; in particular, a 773bp segment had a strong positive influence (8-fold higher) on downstream gene expression. MMP19, a largely understudied gene, was further characterized by expression studies in the optic nerve and retina. Using frozen sections from normal donor eyes, we demonstrated that MMP19 is predominantly localized to the optic nerve head in the lamina cribrosa region with moderate labeling in the postlaminar region, and weak labeling in the prelaminar region and retina. We also evaluated MMP19 expression in relation to the cell types that populate the optic nerve such as astrocytes and retinal ganglion cells. The pattern of expression is consistent with MMP19 being a secreted protein accumulating in the extracellular spaces and basement membranes of the optic nerve. Our studies have identified the first gene associated with CODA and future research is focused on recapitulating CODA phenotypes in animal models and assessing the mechanism of MMP19 involvement during development.

In recent years, the salience of obesity and body image in society has given rise to a "fat activist" movement dedicated to defending non-normative body types. This activism has extended to the online environment, in which groups who are ostracized from the traditional realm have taken to blogging as a form of resistance and expression. The term "fat" has been reclaimed by the movement as a term of emancipation and defiance. The so-called "fatshion" blogs have a growing audience, and there is a burgeoning scholarly literature on this phenomenon. The aim of this research was to investigate college-aged females who identify as "fat," who may or may not have been exposed to the online fatshion (fat fashion) market or blogs. Are these blogs being used as resources for these women? Do they even know these websites exist? Thus, the aim of this study was to discover what the current fashion sector is like for those who may not participate as heavily within these communities. The main objective of this study was to find how plus-size women's fashion choices are shaped by the dominant discourses of the body and how this, in turn, influences their shopping experiences. By conducting semi-structured interviews along with participants filling out a small questionnaire, an in-depth look at the personal thoughts and feelings of fat women outside of this movement was explored. Fatshion was studied through four theoretical lenses: as a counter-discourse, as a place for identity construction, as a mode of gender performativity, and how fatshion is informed by intersectionality of race, class, and gender. Based on the interview data, the study found that the messages found on fatshion blogs have the potential to spark opposition in ways that mobilize a more positive self-image as well as nonconformist self-presentations through a heightened awareness of the possibilities for opposing dominant ideologies.

This study considers how significant multi-regional processes, such as Spanish colonization of the U.S. Southwest and the later Puebloan diaspora, affected the lives of Native peoples living on the Central Great Plains. Social and economic connections existed between Puebloan people and several Great Plains groups, including those known to archaeologists as the Dismal River Aspect (AD 1600-1750). One significant Dismal River site in western Kansas, the Scott County Pueblo (14SC1), includes the remains of a Dismal River occupation, a seven-room masonry pueblo, and Puebloan material culture. Previous researchers interested in 14SC1 have used Spanish historical documents and archaeological evidence to focus on who built the structure and why. To date, very few attempts have been made to move beyond this pueblo to consider how Puebloan migrants who moved to the Central High Plains were influencing Dismal River communities. The primary goal of this research was to determine the nature and extent to which Puebloan migrants impacted the lives of Dismal River groups, and how far these influences may have spread to Dismal River people living outside of western Kansas. This research employed reviews of available ethnographic and Spanish historic documents, the analysis of Dismal River ceramic assemblages, and the mineral and chemical characterization of raw material sources and ceramic samples. Ethnographic accounts provided evidence for variation found in foodways practices and ceramic vessel use between Great Plains and Puebloan groups, providing a baseline for Plains technological styles versus those commonly found in northern New Mexico. A careful analysis of how ceramic vessels were manufactured and used can provide insights into the practices and identity of the people who made them, and whether Puebloan practices were shared with Dismal River groups. The analysis of archaeological specimens, using both whole vessels and sherds, showed that Dismal River people living at and near the Scott County Pueblo in western Kansas were influenced by their interactions with Puebloan migrants. However, there was no ceramic evidence indicating that Puebloan migrants or their practices were present at Dismal River sites outside of Kansas. Evidence of Puebloan manufacturing practices, vessel forms, and foodways are present at three sites in western Kansas. Compositional analyses confirmed that while Dismal River Gray Ware ceramics were locally made, possible examples of Tewa Red Ware and Kapo Black recovered from Scott County sites were also locally made. These data indicate that adult Puebloan women were living in western Kansas, making pottery in culturally significant styles that they learned in their natal communities. These Puebloan women, while preserving their cultural heritage, were also influencing the Dismal River community they joined and likely passed their cultural practices on to their children. The characterization of micaceous ceramics recovered from many Dismal River sites indicates that they may have origins in both New Mexico and the Front Range and Laramie Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. Dismal River people living across the Central High Plains were tied into larger inter- and intra- regional exchange networks and much of their observed cultural variation likely stems from their interaction with different neighboring groups. Additional research is needed to identify the possible sources of these micaceous ceramics and to better understand how Native American-Native American interactions were impacting the identity, practice, and technology of groups living on the Plains during the Protohistoric period.

Counseling psychology doctoral trainees’ satisfaction with their clinical methods training is an important predictor of their self-efficacy as counselors, persistence in graduate programs, and probability of practicing psychotherapy in their careers (Fernando &Hulse-Killacky, 2005; Hadjipavlou &Ogrodniczuk, 2007; Morton &;Worthley, 1995). Much of the extant literature related to assessing psychology graduate students’ satisfaction with their training has focused on supervision processes and has not adequately assessed other elements of training such as coursework, clinical experiences, and the learning contexts of practicum sites and program settings. Additionally, the available research is largely quantitative data based on geographically restricted samples that does not adequately explain reasons for trainees’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The purpose of the present study was to broadly identify factors that contribute to counseling psychology doctoral students’ satisfaction with their clinical methods training in coursework, clinical experiences, supervision, and practicum and program contexts. Eight advanced doctoral trainees from APA-accredited programs in counseling psychology were interviewed about their satisfaction with their training experiences. Data was analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012). Results indicated that trainees generally entered programs with broad/unclear expectations, but some identified preferences for practicum settings, developing clinical skills, learning approaches to psychotherapy, and training in multicultural competence. Participants expressed higher satisfaction with courses that included multicultural content, training in theoretical approaches to therapy, and clinically-applicable content using teaching methods that included combining lecture with dialogue and experiential exercises. Diversity in clients’ demographics, presenting concerns, therapeutic modalities, and distress levels contributed to higher satisfaction with clinical experiences. Additionally, participants expressed their value for the opportunity to accrue client contact towards internship requirements. Strong supervisory relationships were most frequently identified as contributing to participants’ satisfaction with supervision. Participants expressed highest satisfaction with supervisors who conveyed care and support; were respectful, invested, competent, and experienced; provided new learning and feedback; and demonstrated multicultural competence. Practicum sites which provided an appropriate balance of training and clinical work, met trainees’ expectations for developmentally-appropriate training and clinical experiences, and fostered positive relationships between trainees and competent, invested staff members were described to produce highest satisfaction. Participants also expressed highest satisfaction when they had open, safe interpersonal relationships with faculty and felt secure in their ability to secure practicum placements in a range of settings. All participants stated they would feel more satisfied with their programs if more courses were available, but opinions varied as to the type of additional training desired. Findings are considered from the perspective of experiential learning theory (Kolb, 1984) and situated learning theory (Lave &Wenger, 1991). Implications for program faculty, practicum staff, and future research are discussed.

Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) utilized art in many ways to promote herself and assert power in Baroque Europe. Previous scholars have addressed either Christina’s use of art to safeguard authority as Swedish regnant, or her expressions of sovereignty as an erstwhile Protestant queen in Rome, but no scholarship to date has addressed the topic of how Christina’s patronage developed, or explored how motifs employed early on later reappeared. This dissertation brings together both sides of the equation to provide a comprehensive understanding of how Queen Christina’s patronage developed in Stockholm, and how her approach evolved as she became a fixture in Rome. The deployment of the arts was necessary to assert Christina’s authority in a patriarchal environment and ultimately, to politically legitimize herself as an independent royal woman. An initial review of royal imagery of her father King Gustav II Adolf (1594-1632) provides the background for examination of early patronage promoting Christina, which drew upon Gustav’s precedents while beginning to establish her as a majestic leader in her own right. Originally the queen’s autonomy was limited by a constitutional rewrite as others steered her image for their own benefit, but Christina matured to make her own choices and developed an approach to patronage that continued throughout her life. My research contributes to our understanding of Christina’s development as art patron by examining commissions that counteract this administrative system that restrained her sovereignty. Portraits from her majority rule relied on iconography and visual rhetoric to influence a select audience, while her coronation and abdication proceedings, by contrast, were multisensory public events that broadly proclaimed her capacity to rule. Hence my analysis ranges from the subtle reading of particular images to taking stock of the language of sheer pageantry of those more public visual displays. After abdication Queen Christina had virtually no political clout, but as dowager regnant, she wielded art and patronage to maintain social standing and power. My research considers how Christina deployed the arts to craft her public persona and express her individuality within the male-dominated political structure of the Vatican even as others played off her remarkable abdication with patronage of their own. Christina’s approach was based on precedents developed in Sweden, and she applied them to her Roman situation with varied success. Through many challenges, scandals, and adversities, art was a potent vehicle both for Christina and for those around her to capitalize on her unique status in the history of Baroque Europe.

This thesis is documentation and analysis of the stage management process working on the 2014 production of Striking 12 at the University of Iowa’s Department of Theatre Arts. In this thesis, the author analyzes the challenges and successes of Striking 12 from a stage management perspective as well as reflects upon the process and its influence on her as a stage manager.

High-fidelity CFD-MBD FSI (Computational Fluid Dynamics - Multi Body Dynamics Fluid-Structure Interaction) code development and validation by full-scale experiments is presented, for a novel hull form, WAM-V (Wave Adaptive Modular Vessel). FSI validation experiments include cylinder drop with suspended mass and 33 ft WAM-V sea-trials. Calm water and single-wave sea-trails were with the original suspension, while the rough-water testing was with a second generation suspension. CFDShip-Iowa is used as CFD solver, and is coupled to Matlab Simulink MBD models for cylinder drop and second generation WAM-V suspension. For 1DOF cylinder drop, CFD verification and validation (V&V) studies are carried out including grid and time-step convergence. CFD-MBD results for 2DOF cylinder drop show that 2-way coupling is required to capture coupled physics. Overall, 2-way results are validated with an overall average error value of E=5.6%DR for 2DOF cylinder drop. For WAM-V in calm water, CFD-MBD 2-way results for relative pod angle are validated with E=14.2%DR. For single-wave, CFD-MBD results show that 2-way coupling significantly improves the prediction of the peak amplitude in pontoon motions, while the trough amplitudes in suspension motions are under-predicted. The current CFD-MBD 2-way results for single-wave are validated with E=17%DR. For rough-water, simulations are carried out in regular head waves representative of the irregular seas. CFD-MBD 2-way results are validation with E=23%D for statistical values and the Fourier analysis results, which is reasonable given the differences between simulation waves and experiments.