Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

To Temper Or Not To Temper: A Petrographic Textural Study Of Clays And Formative Ceramic Sherds From The Valley Of Oaxaca, Mexico, Cheri Lynn Price

Theses and Dissertations

Ceramics are one of the best forms of material culture archaeologists can use to analyze questions of social, political, economic, and ideological complexity. The purpose of this thesis research is to determine if the clays used to manufacture later Middle Formative-Terminal Formative ceramics in the Valley of Oaxaca were tempered or otherwise modified by looking at texture of sherds petrographically. Clay samples from around the valley, modern sherds, and Formative sherds were examined and compared using six different forms of analysis. The results show that it is most probable that the Formative sherds were not tempered. However, several sherds exhibited …

Elections Matter: The Politics Of Prosecuting Deceptive Advertising In Wisconsin, Courtney Vander Veen Mich

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the causal relationship between ideology and regulation. Specifically,

this study looks at the relationship between Wisconsin elected officials and their political party in relation to the level of enforcement of the Wisconsin deceptive advertising statute. The study analyzed 79 Wisconsin cases prosecuted for deceptive advertising from 2003 through 2014. The 79 cases occurred over the span of three different governor and attorney general four-year periods.These cases were analyzed for outcomes and the number of cases prosecuted during each of the three four-year periods present in Wisconsin. Fifty-six of the 79 cases were analyzed further for the number …

Death Keeps No Calendar: Dating Mortuary Hardware From The Saints Peter And Paul Parish Church Cemetery, Amanda Marie Roller

Theses and Dissertations

The concern of the Saints Peter and Paul parish members regarding the history and identity of the individuals buried in an almost forgotten section of the cemetery created an opportunity for archaeologists to work with a community by providing a voice for those buried there and facilitating community understanding and healing. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the temporal indicators of the Saints Peter and Paul cemetery to determine if the coffin hardware and associated artifacts present in excavated burials reflect the expected time of interment. The expected period of interment is 1872-1930. Coffin hardware and associated artifacts …

Gender Reflections: A Reconsideration Of Pictish Mirror And Comb Symbols, Traci N. Billings

Theses and Dissertations

The interpretation of prehistoric iconography is complicated by the tendency to project

contemporary male/female gender dichotomies into the past. Pictish monumental stone sculpture

in Scotland has been studied over the last 100 years. Traditionally, mirror and comb symbols

found on some stones produced in Scotland between AD 400 and AD 900 have been interpreted

as being associated exclusively with women and/or the female gender. This thesis re-examines

this assumption in light of more recent work to offer a new interpretation of Pictish mirror and

comb symbols and to suggest a larger context for their possible meaning. Utilizing the Canmore

database, …

Forecasting Spot Exchange Rates Using Different Forecasting Techniques, Siriwetti Mohottige Muditha Hasthila Nanayakkara

Theses and Dissertations

Forecasting of exchange rates has always been a popular research topic among scholars. The thesis tried to forecast the future change in spot rate using the difference between forward rate and the current spot rate. Forward rates of three-time horizons were used as the time horizon’s included 1 month, 3 month and 6 months. The study employed two exchange rates and both the exchange rates were forecasted using three forecasting methodologies to determine the best forecasting tool.

Several prior studies have produced different results and the thesis explores possible to improve the forecast of structural exchange rate models, by explicitly …

Video Modeling To Increase Interaction For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In A Museum Setting Using An Application On A Tablet, Bethany Miota Miota

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to perform an exploratory study to determine if the ScanDo! app intervention is an assistive technology that increases interaction for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a museum setting. The ScanDo! app intervention presented a video demonstration that modeled the interaction for each learning station by scanning the QR code attached to the station. Using a naturally occurring baseline single-subject design with ABA and reversed ABA phases, two children with ASD and their parents visited the grocery store exhibit at a children’s museum. Observers of the trials and questionnaires completed by parents before …

Developing Sampling Strategies And Predicting Freeway Travel Time Using Bluetooth Data, Hasan Md Moonam

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate, reliable, and timely travel time is critical to monitor transportation system performance and assist motorists with trip-making decisions. Travel time is estimated using the data from various sources like cellular technology, automatic vehicle identification (AVI) systems. Irrespective of sources, data have characteristics in terms of accuracy and reliability shaped by the sampling rate along with other factors. As a probe based AVI technology, Bluetooth data is not immune to the sampling issue that directly affects the accuracy and reliability of the information it provides. The sampling rate can be affected by the stochastic nature of traffic state varying by …

Rail: African & African American Labor And The Ties That Bind In The Atlantic World, Benjamin David Wendorf

Theses and Dissertations

As was intended, the construction of railways transformed the landscape and societies of the Atlantic World. Great fortunes and forces emerged in the directions of the tracks, sufficient to create structures of economy and organize communities in ways that persisted long after a railway’s use had diminished. In this dissertation, the author argues that the connections and reorganization effected by railway construction created new economic paths in the American South, Panama, and Gold Coast West Africa; the transformations were marked by struggles for power along racial lines, enslavement and coercion in labor, and the interchange between communities and their existing …

Investigating The Functions Of Copper Material Culture From Four Oneota Sites In The Lake Koshkonong Locality Of Wisconsin, Jacqueline Marie Pozza

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores Oneota use of native copper in the Lake Koshkonong locality between A.D. 1100 and 1400. Over 600 pieces of Oneota copper artifacts originating from four sites were documented and analyzed in order to investigate distribution, production, utilization, and the ideological and social significance behind this raw material. The artifacts analyzed for this study were recovered from Oneota sites adjacent to Lake Koshkonong in Jefferson County, Wisconsin: Crabapple Point (47JE93), Schmeling (47JE833), Koshkonong Creek Village (47JE379), and Crescent Bay Hunt Club (47JE904). These assemblages primarily included awls, beads, pendants, and fragmented material. The data set also includes unique …

Analyzing Transportation Services For Older Adults In Southeastern Wisconsin, Elizabeth Jean Saunderson

Theses and Dissertations

Older adults are important users to consider in the evaluation of transportation services. Many older non-drivers take fewer trips than their driving peers. It is important that transportation services meet the needs of older adults to provide greater access to this subset of the population. This thesis applies the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to evaluate the thirty-one non-private transportation services that exist in southeastern Wisconsin. The AHP structure uses multiple criteria to evaluate and rank several alternatives based on a stated goal. An optimization model using the LINGO solver introduces a fuzzy scale level to the AHP and assigns weights …

Solid State Protective Device Topological Trade-Offs For Mvdc Systems, Vikas Singh

Theses and Dissertations

Presently accepted approaches to protection are “Unit-Based” which means the power converter(s) feeding the bus coordinate with no-load electromechanical switches to isolate faulted portions of the bus. However, “Breaker-Based” approaches, which rely upon solid state circuit breakers for fault mitigation can result in higher reliability of power and potentially higher survivability. The inherent speed of operation of solid state protective devices will also play a role in fault isolation, hence reducing stress level on all system components. A comparison study is performed of protective device topologies that are suitable for shipboard distribution systems rated between 4kVdc and 20kVdc from the …

Hashtagging Your Health: Using Psychosocial Variables And Social Media Use To Understand Impression Management And Exercise Behaviors In Women, Caitlyn Hauff

Theses and Dissertations

Our society has become heavily reliant on social media, especially in the health and exercise domain. Social and environmental factors impact females’ body image perceptions and create body image disturbances, yet little research is dedicated to the exploration of how social media, and social comparisons through social media exposure, impact exercise behaviors and body image perceptions in females. Considering Perloff's (2014) theoretical model, the current study explored how the interaction between individual psychosocial variables and social media use predict exercise behaviors and engagement in impression management in women. Using a mixed methodological approach, the specific aims of this study were …

The Information-Seeking Strategies Of Humanities Scholars Using Resources In Languages Other Than English, Carol Sabbar

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE INFORMATION-SEEKING STRATEGIES OF HUMANITIES SCHOLARS

USING RESOURCES IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ENGLISH

by

Carol Sabbar

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Dr. Iris Xie

This dissertation explores the information-seeking strategies used by scholars in the humanities who rely on resources in languages other than English. It investigates not only the strategies they choose but also the shifts that they make among strategies and the role that language, culture, and geography play in the information-seeking context. The study used purposive sampling to engage 40 human subjects, all of whom are post-doctoral humanities scholars based in the …

Decolonizing African-American Museums: A Case Study On Two African-American Museums In The South, Anastacia Jonique Scott

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to understand how African-American museums’ exhibits help individuals gain their sense of racial identity through public memory. In an era where the United States is supposedly “post-racial” African-American museums are flourishing. As institutions serving an important role in preserving the collective memory of African-American people in the US, African-American museums evoke questions of representation within the larger US narrative that confirm the persistent saliency of race in society, and therefore continue to have a public function in maintaining and developing a racial African-American identity (Jackson 2012; Eichstedt and Small 2002; Wilson 2012; Golding 2009).

My research is …

Apoaequorin Differentially Modulates Fear Conditioning In Adult And Aged Rats, Vanessa Ehlers

Theses and Dissertations

Normal aging is associated with a number of changes in behavioral and cellular function, and is often linked to increased susceptibility to cognitive impairment. The hippocampus has been widely implicated in learning and memory, and many forms of learning that are hippocampus-dependent (e.g. trace fear conditioning) are impaired in aged animals. A proposed contributor to aging-related cognitive impairment is aging-related calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation. This dysregulation is thought to result from changes in specific Ca2+-regulatory mechanisms, including abnormal Ca2+ ion channel activity or expression, as well as reduced Ca2+-binding protein (CaBP) expression, which is associated with cognitive and synaptic impairment. Previous …

Late Paleo-Indian Period Lithic Economies, Mobility, And Group Organization In Wisconsin, Ethan Adam Epstein

Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation focuses upon the organization of Pleistocene / Holocene period lithic technology in Wisconsin circa 10,000 – 10,500 years before present. Lithic debitage and flaked stone tools from the Plainview/Agate Basin components of the Heyrman I site (47DR381), the Dalles site (47IA374), and the Kelly North Tract site at Carcajou Point (47JE02) comprise the data set. These Wisconsin sites are located within a post glacial Great Lakes dune environment, an inland drainage/riverine environment, and an inland wetland/lacustrine environment. An assemblage approach is used to examine the structure of each site’s lithic economy. This broad approach to lithic organization …

The Effects Of Exercise Pattern And Intensity On The Expression Of Flk-1 And Flt-1 Receptors In The Hippocampus And Cerebellum, Morgan E. Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations

Aerobic exercise benefits the body and brain. In the brain, these benefits include neuroprotection and improved cognition. These exercise-induced changes are attributed in part to angiogenesis: the growth of new capillaries from preexisting vessels. One critical factor involved in the regulation of angiogenesis is VEGF and its receptors Flk-1 and Flt-1. Although exercise is generally found to be beneficial, there are wide variations in the exercise regimens used across experiments. This study standardized some of these variations. In this study, rats were either assigned to a voluntary wheel running or a forced wheel running exercise condition. Within each condition, animals …

Gay Liberation Is One Thing, But Nobody Likes A Dyke: Emerging Frames In Queer Radio, Ryan Charles Sugden

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how a social movement uses the media to progress in society. I conduct a framing analysis on the queer community’s use of radio during two time periods: 1970s queer radio program Gay Perspective and a 2015-2016 program, Queery. I examine the show through three emerging frames: Cultured, Diversity, and Assimilation. The thesis studies how segments of the LGBTQIA+ community framed the discussion of gay rights in the 1970s and how those frames have (and haven’t) changed in 2016. Gay Perspective focused much of its energy on trying to demonstrate the need for rights and attempts to demonstrate …

The Role Of Bdnf In 17Β-Estradiol-Induced Facilitation Of Extinction Of Cocaine Seeking, Hanna Yousuf

Theses and Dissertations

Females are more susceptible to drug dependence than males, and these differences in addictive behaviors are mediated, in large part, by 17β-estradiol (E2). E2 enhances memory in a variety of behavioral paradigms and may act to enhance the formation of drug-related memories. Interestingly, due to its mnemonic effects, E2 promotes drug seeking, but also may aid in extinguishing drug seeking behaviors. Treatment of addiction is modeled through extinction, and the infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex (IL-mPFC) is responsible for inhibiting drug seeking after extinction. However, the cellular mechanisms by which E2 facilitates extinction remain unknown. Previous work suggests that the memory-enhancing …

Configuring The Qualification Of Good Coffee An Ethnography On The Specialty Coffee Industry In Milwaukee, Yang Liu

Theses and Dissertations

I put qualification at the center of this research, because the intensive emphasis on coffee quality in the Third Wave Coffee Movement is the first thing that drew me to this research. When I talked with people in the specialty coffee industry in Milwaukee, they did not always admit they are part of the movement but they did highlight coffee quality as the core value of the specialty coffee market.

The concept of qualification comes from Michael Callon and his colleagues’ (2002) theoretical framework “the economy of qualities.” It refers to an economy in which tradable goods in the market …

Examining Psychologists’ Competence And Cultural Adaptations In Therapy When Working With Latina/O Clients, Marisela Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

The following multiple case study used semi-structured qualitative interviews and quantitative data to examine the multicultural competencies and cultural adaptations of four psychologists during a mock therapy session. This study consisted of three components: (1) Pre-Task, a semi-structured interview; (2) Task, each participant completing a mock therapy session with the same mock client and; (3) Post-Task, followed the client sessions and consisted of a semi-structured interview, a demographic questionnaire and two paper-pencil self-report measures. Immediately after each therapy session with the participants, the mock client completed two paper-pencil measures and a brief semi-structured interview about the participants. Three multicultural psychology …

Meaning In Motion, Kara Hendrickson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis essay and accompanying exhibition examine the capacity of interactive art to stage situations for participants to explore embodiment. In presenting the four-part interactive suite "Body Language" by Nathaniel Stern, the exhibition invites viewers to engage with digital projections that track and respond to movement by producing animated text and spoken utterances. Through the juxtaposition of motion performed by the viewer’s physical body with computer-generated words and speech, "Body Language" explores the complex ways in which the body and language depend upon each other to create and communicate meaning. This essay also proposes that the gallery uses its power …

"It's My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite": Information And Secrecy In The Chicago Diy Punk Music Scene, Kaitlin Beer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will examine how the DIY punk scene in Chicago has utilized secretive information dissemination practices to manage boundaries between itself and mainstream society. Research for this thesis started in 2013, following the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s meeting in Chicago. This event caused a crisis within the Chicago DIY punk scene that primarily relied on residential spaces, from third story apartments to dirt-floored basements, as venues. The scene became vulnerable to closures by law enforcement, who were directed by Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel to crackdown on activities taking place at potential locations for radical activity prior to the NATO …

If Or When? Uncertainty's Role In Anxious Anticipation, Kenneth P. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

Uncertainty is often associated with subjective distress and a potentiated anxiety response. Occurrence uncertainty (OU), or the inability to predict if a threat will occur, has never been compared experimentally with temporal uncertainty (TU), or the inability to predict when a threat will occur. The current study aimed to 1) directly compare the eye-blink startle responsivity of OU and TU, 2) develop a more effective task for isolating uncertain anticipation, and 3) better understand the relationship between individual differences in the intolerance of uncertainty and uncertain anticipation startle responsivity. The novel study showed that OU anticipation is more anxiety provoking …

Farm Aid: A Case Study Of A Charity Rock Organization, Andrew Palen

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact that the non-profit organization Farm Aid has had on the farming industry, policy, and the concert realm known as charity rock. This study also examines how the organization has maintained its longevity. By conducting an evaluation on Farm Aid and its history, the organization’s messaging and means to communicate, a detailed analysis of the past media coverage on Farm Aid from 1985-2010, and a phone interview with Executive Director Carolyn Mugar, I have determined that Farm Aid’s impact is complex and not clear. Farm Aid, while very active in the political sphere, including lobbying for …

Exchange Rate And The Trade Balance: Is The Link Symmetric Or Asymmetric, Hadiseh Fariditavana

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES AND THE TRADE BALANCE: IS THE LINK SYMMETRIC OR ASYMETRIC

By

Hadiseh Fariditavana

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, June 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Mohsen Bahmani-Oskooee

This dissertation consists of three essays in international trade. The J-Curve theory suggests that after currency depreciation, the trade balance continues to deterioration till some lags emerge, and then starts to improve. My contribution is in using a non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag model to examine if the effects of depreciation are different than the effects of appreciation of exchange rate on the trade balance. Using the sample data from thirteen …

The Roles Of Work And Family In Men’S Lives: A Test Of Lent And Brown’S (2013) Social Cognitive Model Of Career Self-Management, Shin Ye Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The percentage of dual-earner families in the United States has increased significantly in the last 35 years (Boushey & O’Leary, 2009). One of the corresponding changes in family structure has been a drastic decrease in the breadwinner-housewife framework, which makes up just over 20% of the workforce in the U.S. (U.S Department of Labor, 2011). Although the breadwinner-homemaker framework of work-family balance is no longer pervasive, the majority of discussion in the work-family interface still tends to focus on women’s challenges in balancing work and family needs, likely due to traditional gender role stereotyping. Recent studies reveal that more fathers …

Essays On Health And Labor Market Practices In The U.S., Mona Khadem Sameni

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the link between different aspects of labor market and individuals’ health. The first chapter analyzes the relationship between the use of four different substances and nonstandard work schedules. Using the NLSY97 and applying standard panel techniques as well as survival analyses, I find that contrary to most previous evidence, nonstandard work schedule is not necessarily associated with an increase in substance use, and in the case of drinking and binge drinking such correlation is actually negative. Evidence also suggests that drug prone individuals tend to work more at nonstandard schedules. Results are robust to the specification at …

An Integrated Environmental Analysis Framework For Multi-Functional Urban Food Production Utilizing Nutrient Recycling From Organic Waste Streams, William Kort

Theses and Dissertations

Increasing enthusiasm for local food, including urban agriculture, has piqued research interest in the tenets underlying perceived benefits of localizing food production. This study develops and demonstrates the application of a comprehensive framework for the life cycle environmental assessment of the utilization of urban organic wastes in urban agriculture, specifically fruit and vegetable production. Results indicate that this full “urban nutrient cycle” may have significant environmental benefits in terms of land area requirements, water use, wastewater generation, nutrient recovery, environmental contamination and green infrastructure potential, compared to more conventional methods of waste processing and food production. Urban intensive food production …

Neural Circuitry Underlying The Intrusion Of Task-Irrelevant Threat Into Working Memory In Anxiety, Daniel Stout

Theses and Dissertations

Dispositional anxiety is an important risk factor for the development of anxiety and other psychological disorders. Symptoms commonly expressed by highly anxious individuals include intrusive memories, uncertainty, and worry — all occurring in the absence of immediate threat. This raises the possibility that anxious individuals have difficulty governing threat’s access to working memory, the mental workspace where goal-related information is actively retained for guiding on-going behavior. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 81 subjects completed a well-validated working memory task, I show that threat-related and neutral distracters unnecessarily gain access to working memory, as evidenced by increased neural activity …