Digital Commons Network^™

Assessment Of Two Pedagogical Tools For Cybersecurity Education, Pranita Deshpande

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity is an important strategic areas of computer science, and a difficult discipline to teach effectively. To enhance and provide effective teaching and meaningful learning, we develop and assess two pedagogical tools: Peer instruction, and Concept Maps. Peer instruction teaching methodology has shown promising results in core computer science courses by reducing failure rates and improving student retention in computer science major. Concept maps are well-known technique for improving student-learning experience in class. This thesis document presents the results of implementing and evaluating the peer instruction in a semester-long cybersecurity course, i.e., introduction to computer security. Development and evaluation of …

An Examination Of Perceived Leadership Behaviors And Employee Engagement In The Us Federal Government: An Exploratory Study, Jason Barker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Leadership can exist in any organization or entity. It has been studied extensively and examined comprehensively. There have been various theories of what type of leadership is ideal or suitable for a group or organization. From transformational to transactional leadership, leadership styles exist that can contribute to organizations and the style they employ. Employee engagement can be based on either or both transformational and transactional leadership factors. Transformational leadership behaviors generally show an increase in employee engagement. Employee engagement has an association with job satisfaction and leadership perception. Leadership styles will be defined, in addition to factors in the employee’ …

Effects Of Temperature, Ultraviolet Radiation And Crude Oil Exposure On Early-Life Staged Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena Hippurus), Christina Pasparakis

Open Access Dissertations

The timing and location of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster within the Gulf of Mexico resulted in crude oil exposure of many commercially and ecologically important fish species, such as mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), during their sensitive early life stages (ELS). Mahi produce positively buoyant and rapidly developing embryos. Therefore, ELS mahi may be directly exposed to the cardiotoxic tricyclic PAHs dominating the oil slicks in surface waters for a significant portion of their developmental period. Further, these embryos are transparent and are likely also exposed to simultaneous stressors occurring in surface waters, known to act synergistically in the presence …

An Examination Of Entrainment In Typically Developing Children, Kiersten A. Pope

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Purpose: Conversational entrainment describes the tendency for individuals to align their behavior with their communication partners and is essential for successful interaction. Evidence of entrainment in adults is robust, yet research regarding its development is sparse. Here, we investigate the effectiveness of a quasi-conversational paradigm for the purpose of identifying the speech rate entrainment abilities of children.

Method: Data were collected from a total of 50 typically developing children from 5-14 years old. Participants completed an entrainment task to identify the presence of speech rate modification depending on the presence of “fast” or “slow” stimuli. The entrainment task utilized a …

Identifying And Assessing Conflicts Between Future Development And Current Migratory Bird Habitat Around Farmington Bay, Utah, Aubin A. Douglas

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Every year, the Great Salt Lake (GSL) and its associated wetlands provide critical habitat for over 250 migratory bird species from both the Pacific and Central Flyways. The GSL borders the Wasatch Front, which is the fastest growing and most populous region in Utah. To support the ever-increasing working population, the government of Utah aspires to increase the robust economic growth of the region through economic incentives and development of infrastructure. As this area continues to develop, greater pressure will be placed on the surrounding natural resources, including the GSL, its wetlands, and the open space and agricultural land that …

Friends Of Walnut Avenue, Elena Owens

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center (Walnut Avenue) is a nonprofit agency that provides services to women, children, and families in Santa Cruz County. Programs include domestic violence services, early childhood education, and youth engagement. To provide these services, Walnut Avenue depends heavily on restricted funds, but this can be an unstable revenue stream. If an unexpected cost arises, restricted funds designated to a specific program cannot be reappropriated to alleviate the expense. Losing a critical grant may also force an organization to make cuts in programs or staff, impacting the quality of services. In order to expand revenue sources …

The Migration And Developmental Remodeling Of Intrinsic Interneurons In Visual Thalamus And The Role Of Retinal Signaling., Naomi E. Charalambakis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) of the mouse is a model system to study the development of thalamic circuitry. While most studies focus on relay neurons of dLGN, little is known about the factors regulating the development of the other principal cell type, intrinsic interneurons. To date, the targeting and migratory path of dLGN interneurons as well as their morphological development remains unclear. Here we examined whether the migration, structure, and function of interneurons relies on retinal signaling. We took a loss-of-function approach and crossed GAD67-GFP mice, which express green fluorescent protein (GFP) in dLGN interneurons, with math5 nulls …

The Impact Of Coaches' Character On Youth Basketball Players, Natasha Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

If utilized effectively, recreation and sports can serve as major tools for developing youth, improving the educational environment, and increasing the number of productive adults that are healthier physically and mentally to positively impact society. Most research targeting recreation and sports developing youth has the perspective primarily of parents and youth. Evaluating the character strengths of coaches and youth athletes who actively participate in team basketball is vital.

An exploration of the value of basketball and character strengths of (n = 64) youth athletes, between the ages of 12 to 16 years, and the impact of their involvement with coaches …

The Role Of Dialect Words In Children’S Social Decisions, Madison Rose Myers-Burg

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research suggests that young children are capable of distinguishing between phonetically dissimilar spoken accents, yet have difficulty distinguishing between phonetically similar accents (Wagner, Clopper, & Pate, 2013). The present study aimed to determine whether the presence of dialect-specific vocabulary enhances young children’s ability to categorize speakers. Participants completed four training trials in which they were familiarized with photos of two children: one of whom used American English labels for test objects and one of whom used British English labels. After training trials, participants completed eight test trials in which they were asked to infer which target child would use …

The Differentiation Of Smallholder Farming And Household Food Responsibilities In Northern Ghana, Siera Vercillo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the most urgent problems facing sub-Saharan Africa is that many people lack access to safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food, particularly in semi-arid regions such as northern Ghana. An important indication of this problem within Ghana is that stunting rates due to prolonged undernourishment are significantly higher in the northern regions than in other parts of the country, despite claims of an overall increase in the availability of food. Broadly, this dissertation employs qualitative case study research in the Northern Region (interviews N=109 and 12 focus groups) to describe the changes in access to resources, roles and …

Developing Identity Among Third Culture Kids, Amy Carol Rustine

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore experiences that influence the identity development among Third Culture Kids (TCKs). TCKs in this study are individuals that spend part of their developmental years in a county other than the parents’ home country requiring travel overseas. Participants in the research were adults ranging in age from 19-22 attending college in the United States. Data was collected through individual interviews. Themes emerged after developing codes and analyzing the transcripts with codes. Emerging themes reveal TCK’s tremendous struggle within awareness of difference, struggle to fit in and struggle to belong. Teachers and peers …

A Comprehensive Catalog Of Post-Translational Modifications Of Drosophila Melanogaster Hox Protein, Sex Combs Reduced, Anirban Banerjee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

During formation of the anterior-posterior axis, Homeotic selector (HOX) proteins determine the identity of Drosophila body segments. HOX proteins are transcription factors that regulate gene expression during development. Besides a highly conserved DNA-binding homeodomain (HD), HOX proteins also contain functionally important, evolutionarily conserved small motifs. These short motifs found in HOX proteins may be Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs). SLiMs are proposed to be sites of phosphorylation and this may regulate the activity of HOX proteins. The primary aim of this work was to develop a comprehensive catalogue of the sites of phosphorylation and other post-translational modifications (PTMs) for Fushi tarazu …

Count The Uncountable: The Impact Of Population Density On The Landscape Of Haiti, Jarvis Thanex Louis

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

An understanding of population density is essential to addressing environmental issues in Haiti. Decades of significant political, economic, environmental, and social challenges have influenced both population density and the landscape of the country. Additionally, lack of consistent and reliable census data poses great challenges to tracking population growth in Haiti. Data from the US Census Bureau and USGS Global Visualization Viewer satellite images were used to analyze the impact of population density on Haiti’s landscape. A comparison of Haiti’s population density in 2007 and 2018 using remote sensing analyses offers insight into the landscape of the country. The images illustrate …

Achieving Development In Destinations: Effects Of Tourism On Poverty, Inequality, And Quality Of Life, Jessica R. Linder

Theses and Dissertations

For decades, political scientists and development practitioners have focused on poverty and inequality alleviation, as well as increased quality of life as key goals for the field of development. Research focused on key concepts such as social capital and tools like microfinance and trickle-down tax structures for achieving these goals. Tourism, however, remained largely unstudied as a development tool, with most prior research focusing on sustainability and the economics of the industry. This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of tourism as a tool for development by examining its effects on poverty, inequality, and quality of life, as it becomes …

The Inter-Subject Correlation Of Eeg In Response To Naturalistic Stimuli, Samantha S. Cohen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Inter-subject correlation is a measure of the similarity of the brain activity of a group of people as they respond to the same naturalistic stimulus, typically a story or video, meant to simulate a real world experience. This thesis tests the hypothesis that the correlation of the brain responses of a group of people is indicative of stimulus engagement. The rationale is that the content of the stimulus drives brain activity in a consistent manner, while internal thoughts are divergent and result in uncorrelated activity. The inter-subject correlation (ISC) of neural responses have previously been assessed with fMRI, EEG, and …

Global Pretrial Detention Use: A Cross-National Analysis, Martin Schönteich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

To better understand global pretrial detention patterns, this study explores economic, political, and social factors associated with two measures of pretrial detention: the number of pretrial detainees as a rate of the general population, and the number of pretrial detainees as a proportion of the overall prison population. Through simple correlation analysis, stepwise regression, and moderation analyses, the study identifies factors which are most strongly associated with the two pretrial detention measures. The literature does not report any large-scale cross-national studies on pretrial detention. This study addresses this gap, focusing exclusively on pretrial detention using a large cross-national sample of …

Measurement Of Dynamic Pressure Gradients On The Surface Of Short Cylinders, Stephanie Gilooly

Master's Theses and Capstones

As a result of military testing and training around the United States, the property potentially containing military weapons in underwater environments exceeds 10 million acres. The weapons, called munitions, are difficult to locate, can move suddenly, and are a danger to marine life and the public. Before safe and cost-effective munition recovery efforts can be developed, a better understanding of their mobility in underwater environments is needed. Specifically, this research looks to resolve the role of dynamic pressure gradients surrounding the munition that can impact its position or orientation. To do so, a pressure-mapped model munition (PMM) has been designed, …

The Effects Of Early Adolescent Lipopolysaccharide Or Cat Odour Exposure Followed By Propionic Acid Administration On Anxiety, Startle Response, And Sensorimotor Gating In Adolescence And Adulthood, Deanne Tak On Wah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are caused by genetic factors and a complex set of risk factors including early stressors and alterations in the gut microbiome. The present thesis investigated whether environmental stressors during early adolescence predisposes rats administered another stressor in later adolescence and adulthood to produce altered anxiety-like behaviours, startle response, and percent prepulse inhibition. The early adolescent stressors used in this study included repeated administration of a bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or a stressful predator cat odour exposure. In later adolescence and adulthood, rats were administered with a gut microbial by-product, propionic acid (PPA), and subsequently tested on …

Internally Displaced Persons' Burials In Pabbo Town Council In Northern Uganda, Wilfred Luke Komakech

Masters Theses

Hundreds of thousands of people were internally displaced in Northern Uganda during the war from 1986 to 2006. Tens of thousands of people died, and their bodies were buried in the displacement camps. Formerly Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have returned to their home areas and the region is recovering. The former IDP camp has been elevated from a Trading Center into a Town Council and the general socioeconomic improvement of people living in it is improving. All this progress is being slowed down by IDP burials that were left behind by family members who were in Pabbo IDP camp. To …

Three Essays On Foreign Aid And Development Economics, Shaomeng Jia

Theses and Dissertations

The first essay revisits the highly debated aid-policy-growth association with updated data. The results overturn Burnside and Dollar’s original findings by simply using new data over the same countries and years. Additional tests indicate that the original results are mainly sample driven. Marginal effects from the extended sample (1962-2013) provide some evidence that aid can promote growth in the presence of good policies. Post-Cold War (1990-2013) analysis, however, reveals that aid may decrease growth at any level of policy. The overwhelming majority of the results suggest aid conditional on policy is ineffective. This essay illustrates why the debate continues by …

Breakups And Betrayals In Emerging Adulthood: A Developmental Perspective Of Relationship Dissolution And Infidelity, Jerika C. Norona

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation includes two studies that focus on romantic experiences in emerging adulthood (ages 18-25), romantic dissolution (Study 1) and extradyadic intimacy (Study 2), and their relationship with developmental and individual factors. Each study uses two unique community samples of emerging adults who have attended college as well as those who have not attended college in the past. Importantly, both studies examine romantic dissolution and extradyadic intimacy from a developmental perspective, taking into account the salient developmental tasks of independence and interdependence faced by young people. Additionally, individual factors, including perceptions of emerging adulthood (Study 1), attachment style (Study 2), …

Development Of Semantic Reference For Location Symbols By Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Using A Two-Way Communication Keyboard, Alyssa Taylor

Master's Theses

The ability for humans to communicate with another species has been an aspiration and well documented. One example is through training animals to make associations between a designated cue and conditioned response (Pryor, 1986). Two-way communication, however, in which both species can express wants/needs has been predominantly pursued with apes and dolphins. Studies conducted by Louis Herman demonstrated the capabilities of dolphins to comprehend complex semantic and syntactic commands in an artificial language system (Herman, Richards, & Wolz, 1984). Researchers working with primates have used American Sign Language, a computer keyboard system with discrete lexigrams, and a portable lexigram keyboard …

Design For Maintainability In Developing Communities—A Case Study On The Uros Islands, Thomas Barlow

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Designing products for developing communities has exposed many of the underlying assumptions that engineers from developed nations have during the design process. There has been much written about these underlying assumptions in order to create a better framework for designing for developing communities. One unexplored, yet important area is the universality of common maintainability principles used in developed countries when designing products used in developing communities. Such principles include: simplicity, diagnosability, standardization of parts, modular subassemblies, minimizing assembly and disassembly parts, labeling components, increased life of moving parts, manuals, and simplifying tools needed for repairs [1]–[3]. The purpose of this …

Financial Literacy And Victimization, Mecca Samaria Muhammad

Criminal Justice and Criminology Theses

This paper examines the relationship between financial literacy (FL) and susceptibility to economic victimization. Susceptibility to victimization functions as a proxy variable for victimization. It employs a modified, quasi-experimental case study approach and pulls from survey and interview data. It measures changes to FL and susceptibility to victimization after a FL workshop was delivered to a sample of refugees based in a city in southeastern US. Results demonstrate that FL seemed to increase for those within the treatment group. Subsequent changes to susceptibility to victimization indicated a decrease. The study also notes some evidence of a multiplier and reverse multiplier …

Effects Of A Preschool Arts Curriculum On Social And Emotional Competence, Sarah Rose Henderson

Master's Theses

This study investigated the extent to which low-income preschool children’s social, emotional, and behavioral competence improved after engaging in a six-week-long arts program. Participants included 46 students of three, four, and five years of age in two low-income, state-funded classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area. Analyses of children’s scores on SCBE-80 measures of Social Competence and Egotistic-Prosocial showed statistically significant change from the pretest to the posttest. Teacher survey report of students’ frequency in social adaptation and enjoyment of the arts suggested that teachers observed social improvements in the classroom that were consistent with SCBE-80 results in Social Competence. …

Indigenous Tribes In The Brazilian Amazon: Finding A Balance Between Sustainability And Economic Development, Bernadette R. O'Donnell

Honors College Theses

The number of isolated indigenous tribes in Brazil is dropping due to a multitude of factors, including resource extraction. If these factors continue, there will be further reduction of the population of indigenous tribes which causes the loss of culture of the world’s oldest societies. This research establishes the roles that the Brazilian government, NGOs, and the international community should play to preserve indigenous tribes. The research question is: How can Brazil sustain isolated indigenous tribes in the Amazon without compromising its own economic development? The research method is the modified Delphi method which results in a consensus of experts …

Ripple Effects Of The Belo Monte Dam: A Syndemic Approach To Addressing Health Impacts For The Downstream Community Of Gurupá, Cynthia A. Pace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the public health impacts of a large dam project on a downstream community using the framework of Syndemic Theory. The particular focus is the Belo Monte Dam, located in the Brazilian Amazon, and its impact on the community of Gurupá, Pará. At the present time the Belo Monte Dam, which is nearing completion, stands out in scale as being the world’s third largest dam complex. Gurupá is a community well known (and well-studied) in the social science literature as Amazon Town. The aims of this study are to assess the pre-existing public health of Gurupá, as well …

Nasser And Park: Development, State Building, And Elite Consolidation, David Wooil Choi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the relationship between elites and development and state building. It looks at how elite consolidation does or does not affect development and state building. It does this in the context of the cases of Egypt under Gamal Abdal Nasser and Korea under Park Chunghee. The thesis initially puts forward the argument that Korea's advantages from the colonial era set the basis for later development and state building, and paved the way for elite consolidation into the 1960s. However, the thesis ultimately finds that while Korea may have had some advantages from the colonial era that helped in …

Assessment Of The Potential Of Proposed Stations Of The California High-Speed Rail As Major Hubs For Physical And Economic Development, Seitu Akira Coleman

Master's Theses

This study investigated the potential for development of station catchment areas around the proposed California High-Speed Rail System. The study was prompted by a review of practices of Japanese railway company groups that engage not only in train operations, but also in business diversification and property development within the station areas of their lines. These actions allow the company groups to diversify their revenues streams, increase ridership on their lines, and operate as a whole with net profits. This is in contrast to transit agencies in the United States, which only focus on transporting passengers along their lines and do …

Zinc Sunscreens Affect Development Of Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus Embryos, Brittany E. Cunningham, Nikki L. Adams

Master's Theses

The growing popularity of physical sunscreens will also lead to an increased release of the ingredients from zinc oxide (ZnO) sunscreens into marine environments. Though zinc (Zn) is a necessary micronutrient in the ocean, greater than natural Zn concentrations are being released into marine environments by use of sunscreens. The extent of the consequences of the addition of Zn to the ocean are not fully understood. We investigated effects of materials released by zinc oxide (ZnO) sunscreens on the development of California purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Embryos developed in various concentrations of Zn, the sources of which included …