Gender Differences, Social Roles, And Treatment Responses: Are Female Adolescents Better Responders In The Context Of School Mental Health?

Though some studies with youth suggested that females might respond more favorably to psychotherapy than their male counterparts, other literature suggests there are no differences in improvement based on gender. The question of whether female adolescents showed differential response rates to psychotherapy compared to male adolescents was examined in a school mental health (SMH) sample. Approximately 267 high school students (151 female adolescents, 116 male adolescents) between the ages of 13-19 years old were referred to the Assessment, Support, and Counseling (ASC) Center at Watauga High School, Ashe County High School, and Alleghany High School for psychotherapy services over approximately 5 years (2012-2017). Each participant completed the Youth Outcome Questionnaire (YOQ-30) at baseline and at least every other therapy session over the course of treatment. Upon completion of treatment, participants completed a final YOQ. Based on the literature, it was hypothesized that there would not be a difference between male and female adolescents in the trajectory of recovery after receiving services in a SMH program. Multilevel Modeling was used to analyze possible gender interactions regarding psychotherapy outcomes over time in a SMH setting. As predicted, though both males and females showed improvements by the end of treatment, there were no significant gender differences in psychotherapy response over time after completing services in a SMH program

The North Carolina Community College System Critical Success Factor 1 and the Association with Leadership Styles Practiced by North Carolina Community College Presidents

This study examined the association between the North Carolina Community College System’s Critical Success Factors - Factor 1: Core Indicators of Student Success, and the practiced leadership styles of North Carolina community college presidents. The mixed-method research design involved a constructive epistemology. The first stage used quantitative research to gather and analyze data from the Leadership Competence Assessment Instrument and the North Carolina Community College System Annual Reports (2007 – 2009). The second stage used qualitative research to develop interview questions for selected presidents based on the results of the first stage. The third and final stage for this research was comprehensive and combined strategies, approaches, and methods from stages one and two

Agrarianism, Industry, the Environment, and Change: Gold Mining in Antebellum North Carolina, 1799-1860

Using personal correspondence, geological surveys, travelers’ accounts, and tools and methodologies borrowed from other studies of mineral extraction, this thesis argues that gold mining in North Carolina was an important aspect of southern antebellum industry. It traces the development of the industry from the agrarian, subsistence-agriculture based society that characterized the western and southern Piedmont counties of the state into the increasingly mechanized, modernized, and economically stratified society of the late antebellum period. The economic changes that the state underwent during the first half of the nineteenth century occurred alongside significant environmental alterations. Because these economic and environmental changes were intimately linked, this thesis argues that agrarians and industrialists had differing views of the environment. Cataloguing the environmental consequences of the gold mining industry presents a fuller understanding of the process of economic change and sheds light on the complex and vacillating relationship between people and the environment

Childhood resilience of African American school leaders

The purpose of this study was to determine what African Americans who serve in upper-level school leadership positions and who have faced significant barriers as children attribute to their resilience and success. I focused on individual resilience, using the definition summarized by VanBreda (2001): "[R]esilience theory addresses the strengths that people and systems demonstrate that enable them to rise above adversity" (p. 1). The researcher utilized qualitative methodology in conducting research. To select participants, the researcher used a purposive sampling method. The participant sampling was also a sampling of convenience, as the researcher tried to find participants located within the same county of the researcher's residence. In order to identify potential participants, I networked with professional contacts who have knowledge, position, and power to gain access to the participants. My networking contacts called Gatekeepers provided me with the names of African American male and female participants who are currently serving as principals, assistant principals, or in upper level district positions. Pseudonyms were used for the gatekeepers and the participants. During a three-month period, in-depth individual interviews were conducted with five African American male and female principals who excelled academically despite adversity. The participant's perspectives on how they overcame adversity and achieved academic success are essential for identifying and understanding the factors attributed to their resilience and success. Ideally, the results of this study may be helpful to districts in providing professional development opportunities that focuses on school factors that will contribute to the success of African American students demonstrating resilience. Furthermore, it may inform the parents and community regarding programs focused on creating and enhancing the personal and environmental attributes that promote achievement outcomes for other youth in high risk environments (Fraser, 2004; Wang & Gordon, 1994). Findings from the study revealed that protective factors across multiple contexts of students' lives contributed to their academic success despite adversity. Eight themes emerged: precise parenting practices, financial hardships as a motivator, school-based professionals as parental figures, creating a cultural of high expectations, positive student praise and recognition, supportive relational networks within the community, community and church participation, and belief in God

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Search for direct pair production of the top squark in all-hadronic final states in proton-proton collisions at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for direct pair production of the scalar partner to the top quark using an integrated luminosity of 20.1fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are reported. The top squark is assumed to decay via t˜→tχ˜01 or t˜→ bχ˜±1 →bW(∗)χ˜01 , where χ˜01 (χ˜±1 ) denotes the lightest neutralino (chargino) in supersymmetric models. The search targets a fully-hadronic final state in events with four or more jets and large missing transverse momentum. No significant excess over the Standard Model background prediction is observed, and exclusion limits are reported in terms of the top squark and neutralino masses and as a function of the branching fraction of t˜ → tχ˜01 . For a branching fraction of 100%, top squark masses in the range 270–645 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 30 GeV. For a branching fraction of 50% to either t˜ → tχ˜01 or t˜ → bχ˜±1 , and assuming the χ˜±1 mass to be twice the χ˜01 mass, top squark masses in the range 250–550 GeV are excluded for χ˜01 masses below 60 GeV

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Charged-particle distributions at low transverse momentum in √s=13 13 TeV pp interactions measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of distributions of charged particles produced in proton–proton collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are presented. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 151 μb −1 μb−1 . The particles are required to have a transverse momentum greater than 100 MeV and an absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity and the dependence of the mean transverse momentum on multiplicity are measured in events containing at least two charged particles satisfying the above kinematic criteria. The results are corrected for detector effects and compared to the predictions from several Monte Carlo event generators