Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Brigham Young University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 3241 - 3270 of 29644

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Social Media's Impact On The Puerto Rican Diaspora After Hurricane Maria, Heidi Lynn Steidel Ii Camacho Apr 2023

Social Media's Impact On The Puerto Rican Diaspora After Hurricane Maria, Heidi Lynn Steidel Ii Camacho

Theses and Dissertations

Puerto Rico has belonged to the United States for more than a century. In 1898, more than two decades after the Spanish American War, Spain formally ceded the island to the United States. Just over 20 years later, islanders officially became American citizens. Since then, the 100-mile-long by 35-mile-wide island has experienced economic and political crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, and life-threatening natural disasters. These events provoked a vast fluctuation in its population. After Hurricane Maria unfolded in September 2017, more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans moved to the continental United States to start new lives (Schwartz, 2018). This qualitative study sheds …

Go to article

Semantic Overflow Of Powerful Feelings: Digital Humanities Approaches And The 1805 And 1850 Versions Of Wordsworth's Prelude, Dylan Hansen Apr 2023

Semantic Overflow Of Powerful Feelings: Digital Humanities Approaches And The 1805 And 1850 Versions Of Wordsworth's Prelude, Dylan Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have repeatedly contrasted the 1805 and 1850 versions of William Wordsworth’s The Prelude since the discovery and publication of the former by Ernest De Sélincourt in 1926. Points of contention have included the 1850 poem’s grammatical revisions and shifts toward greater political and religious orthodoxy. While these discussions have waned in recent decades, digital humanities tools allow us to revisit oft-debated texts through new lenses. Wanting to examine scholarly claims about The Prelude from a digital humanities perspective, I collaborated with Dr. Billy Hall to enter both versions of the poem into a data analysis and visualization tool, which …

Go to article

An Acoustic Description And Synchronic Comparison Of Morphological Reduplication In Hiligaynon, Nathan W. Adamson Apr 2023

An Acoustic Description And Synchronic Comparison Of Morphological Reduplication In Hiligaynon, Nathan W. Adamson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an acoustic analysis, grammatical description, and typological comparison of morphological reduplication in Hiligaynon, an Austronesian language spoken in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. This work has two main goals: first, to redescribe the formal and functional properties of full reduplication in Hiligaynon; and second, to offer a typological analysis as to how the system of reduplication in Hiligaynon compares to the known typological universals of human language, and within the genetically related languages of the Philippines. While reduplication in Hiligaynon has previously been described (Wolfenden 1971; Cameron 1985; Zack 1994; Spitz 2001; Santos 2012), the …

Go to article

The Morpheme -Ga In Pastaza Quichua, Charles W. Alger Apr 2023

The Morpheme -Ga In Pastaza Quichua, Charles W. Alger

Theses and Dissertations

Pastaza Quichua (PQ) is a member of the Quechua IIB branch of Quechuan languages and has a rich morphology. However, this richness is often over-simplified for the sake of simpler explanation. Most Quechuan languages have a morpheme that is usually spelt -ga, -ka or -qa, and is described as a topicalizing clitic. In this thesis, I will examine the morpheme -ga in PQ, which, like its cognates, is often said to be a topicalizing clitic, despite the fact that it frequently breaks traditional rules for both topic marking and clitic-hood. I find that -ga is a topic marker according to …

Go to article

A Survey Analysis Of United States Community College Esl Programs, Haley Mckee Hanson Apr 2023

A Survey Analysis Of United States Community College Esl Programs, Haley Mckee Hanson

Theses and Dissertations

English learners (ELs) across the United States have aspirations to continue their education and pursue careers in the English language. Because community colleges are educational institutions that not only generally provide open enrollment but are also more accessible and affordable than universities, they are a feasible option for many ELs. Community colleges often have an English as a Second Language (ESL) program available to ELs to help them reach the proficiency needed to study in the English language. This study explores how these programs are structured, who is administering and teaching in these programs, and if these programs track their …

Go to article

The Effect Of Musical Training On Second Language Grammar Acquisition, Deven Joseph Hunsaker Apr 2023

The Effect Of Musical Training On Second Language Grammar Acquisition, Deven Joseph Hunsaker

Theses and Dissertations

Music's effect on non-musical domains has been an area of intense research. Musical training has been shown to positively affect the processing of phonology, lexical tone, and syntax. While music also has positive effects in second language phonology acquisition, its effect on grammar acquisition is contested. This thesis aimed to study the under-researched topic of music and second language grammar acquisition using electroencephalography (EEG), thereby studying the electrical responses of the brain. Beginning level Spanish students were trained on a new grammatical principle prior to performing a grammaticality judgment task, and their behavioral and neural results were analyzed. Those students …

Go to article

The Influence Of L2 Experience On The Production Of L2 Mandarin And L1 English Stop Vot By Native English-Speaking Learners Of Mandarin, Samuel Shih Jung Ng Apr 2023

The Influence Of L2 Experience On The Production Of L2 Mandarin And L1 English Stop Vot By Native English-Speaking Learners Of Mandarin, Samuel Shih Jung Ng

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the Voice onset time (VOT) of Mandarin and English initial position stops as produced by native American-English speaking learners of Mandarin and also native speakers. The study primarily investigated the role of second language experience on native-like production of L2 VOT for the Mandarin stops /p, t, k, ph, th, kh/ and additionally examined any evidence for phonetic drift in the L1 English VOT as a result of L2 Mandarin learning and acquisition. To achieve this, the production of L2 Mandarin and L1 English by native AmericanEnglish speaking learners of Mandarin of two different levels of experience …

Go to article

Non-Fatal Strangulation During Sexual Assault: A Retrospective Review, Brooke E. Stacey Apr 2023

Non-Fatal Strangulation During Sexual Assault: A Retrospective Review, Brooke E. Stacey

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Non-fatal strangulation (NFS) is a life-threatening event in cases of sexual assault. The incidence of NFS during sexual assault is increasing on a global scale. NFS is a gendered crime as most victims are women and most assailants are men and is more common in intimate partner violence. Strangulation victims only have visible neck injuries around 50% of the time, but visible injuries are not a reliable indicator of the severity of the assault. NFS can cause neurological damage from lack of blood flow to the brain and result in physical and psychological trauma. NFS indicates a high degree …

Go to article

Shannon V Nelson 2023 Dissertation Supplementary Data, Shannon Nelson, Neil C. Hansen, Matthew D. Madsen, Val Jo Anderson, Dennis L. Eggett, Bryan G. Hopkins Apr 2023

Shannon V Nelson 2023 Dissertation Supplementary Data, Shannon Nelson, Neil C. Hansen, Matthew D. Madsen, Val Jo Anderson, Dennis L. Eggett, Bryan G. Hopkins

ScholarsArchive Data

This data set includes soil matric potential and temperature data for a field trial at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) evaluating the use of banded superabsorbent polymer (SAP) to increase soil moisture and seedling establishment in rangeland restoration.

Go to article

On And On And On, Rachel Hansen Apr 2023

On And On And On, Rachel Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

One defining root of the essay is its goal to articulate thoughts, simple and complex, into a piece that readers might deliberate and rest and even rely on. On this or that or the other-- "on" being a word suggesting sturdiness and foundation. On and On and On is a collection of personal essays which intends to examine the theories of "truth" (another word associated with sturdiness,) within personal experiences, as they are delivered through creative means. When truths in life are examined and explored in essayistic ways, we discover more profound axioms of the soul that would otherwise remain …

Go to article

Becoming Good: Muslims Pursuing Moral Personhood In A Rural French Town, Clayton S. Van Woerkom Apr 2023

Becoming Good: Muslims Pursuing Moral Personhood In A Rural French Town, Clayton S. Van Woerkom

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how members of a Muslim community (made up of migrants and their descendants from various parts of North Africa, West Africa, Turkey, and elsewhere) in a small town in France seek to become moral persons through Islam. I argue that this quest for moral recognition is informed simultaneously by Islamic and French Republican values, which my French Muslim interlocutors usually conceive of as being consistent with one another. I contrast this analysis with other scholarly approaches to Islam in France that have generally explored the way non-Muslims perceive Islam to be at odds with Frenchness, how Muslims …

Go to article

Healing Practices And Ritual Feasts Among The Nabateans: A Study Of Absorbed Residues From Ceramics On The Ad-Deir Plateau, Jake Hubbert Apr 2023

Healing Practices And Ritual Feasts Among The Nabateans: A Study Of Absorbed Residues From Ceramics On The Ad-Deir Plateau, Jake Hubbert

Theses and Dissertations

Eastern Cistern B on the Ad-Deir Plateau is unusual in its breadth and variety of ceramic vessels represented by thousands of sherds. These sherds raised significant questions about the purpose and use of the vessels that they originally came from. This thesis argues that the ceramic vessels that were deposited in Eastern Cistern B represent the deposited remains of an ancient Nabataean ritual feast. Furthermore, this thesis also helps to answer the questions surrounding what the ceramic containers once held and their relationship to that ritual meal. This thesis identified residues absorbed within the ceramic fragments through the use of …

Go to article

Soft Robot Configuration Estimation: Towards Load-Agnostic Soft-Bodied Proprioception, Christian Peter Sorensen Apr 2023

Soft Robot Configuration Estimation: Towards Load-Agnostic Soft-Bodied Proprioception, Christian Peter Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the work described in this thesis is the development of a configuration estimation scheme for quasi soft-bodied robots, with the end goal being accurate soft-robot proprioception to enable robotic manipulation of unknown external loads. The first chapter introduces the problem and state-of-the-art modeling methods. The second chapter presents work we did building on previous research on a novel sensing scheme for soft-bodied robotic configuration estimation. The third chapter discusses the development of a geometric shape-sensing model based on overlapping tendon-length measurements. This model is geometrically exact for a body composed of two constant curvature segments in bending. …

Go to article

Introducing Stochastic Time Delays In Gradient Optimization As A Method For Complex Loss Surface Navigation In High-Dimensional Settings, Eric Benson Manner Apr 2023

Introducing Stochastic Time Delays In Gradient Optimization As A Method For Complex Loss Surface Navigation In High-Dimensional Settings, Eric Benson Manner

Theses and Dissertations

Time delays are an inherent part of real-world systems. Besides the apparent slowing of the system, these time delays often cause destabilization in otherwise stable systems, and perhaps even more unexpectedly, can stabilize an unstable system. Here, we propose the Stochastic Time-Delayed Adaptation as a method for improving optimization on certain high-dimensional surfaces, which simply wraps a known optimizer --such as the Adam optimizer-- and is able to add a variety of time-delays. We begin by exploring time delays on certain gradient-based optimization methods and their affect on the optimizer's convergence properties. These optimizers include the standard gradient descent method …

Go to article

Viejo Period Architecture In The Casas Grandes Region Of Northern Mexico, Samuel J. Jensen Apr 2023

Viejo Period Architecture In The Casas Grandes Region Of Northern Mexico, Samuel J. Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The Casas Grandes region of northern Mexico is an understudied, though important, part of the culture area that has come to be known as the Northwest/Southwest (NW/SW). What studies have been conducted in the Casas Grandes region have focused on the Medio Period (approximately 1200-1450 AD) and the large site of Paquimé. Only a small amount of research has been conducted on the preceding Viejo Period (approximately 700-1200 AD). In this thesis, I create a clearing house of published Viejo Period architectural features excavated in the Casas Grandes region. I also analyze those features to develop our understanding of the …

Go to article

Having "The Talk": Discrepancies In Parent-Adolescent Sex Communication Frequency And Quality Associated With Adolescent Sexual Esteem, Joanna Beth Eldredge Apr 2023

Having "The Talk": Discrepancies In Parent-Adolescent Sex Communication Frequency And Quality Associated With Adolescent Sexual Esteem, Joanna Beth Eldredge

Theses and Dissertations

Repeatedly, parents have reported more frequent and higher quality sex communication with adolescent children than adolescents report taking place. The current study analyzes the discrepancy in parent-child report of sex communication with three main focuses: the magnitude of the discrepancy, whether parent or adolescent perception is more associated with adolescent sexual esteem, and whether the discrepancy is associated with adolescent sexual esteem. Using data from the Healthy Sexuality Project, we analyze a random sample of 620 families using a hierarchical linear regression to measure whether a discrepancy in parent-adolescent reports of the frequency and quality of sex communication has influence …

Go to article

Online Self-Compassion Training Vs. Expressive Writing: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Lauren Benyo Linford Apr 2023

Online Self-Compassion Training Vs. Expressive Writing: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Lauren Benyo Linford

Theses and Dissertations

Self-compassion is associated with a variety of positive outcomes including well-being and positive body image. There is a need for accessible online self-compassion resources that can be disseminated to the general public. This study examined the efficacy of The Gift of Self-Compassion course (GSC): a 30-day internet-delivered self-compassion training within a non-clinical general population sample. Outcomes examined were self-compassion, well-being, and body dissatisfaction. Using a randomized controlled design, this study compared the GSC to an expressive writing (EW) curriculum. Participants were 215 adults from the general population. Seemingly unrelated regression models were used to estimate treatment differences between groups as …

Go to article

Working-Through Traumatic Memory In Young Adult Fiction, Amanda Charles Apr 2023

Working-Through Traumatic Memory In Young Adult Fiction, Amanda Charles

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the growing presence of trauma and abuse narratives in young adult literature (YAL), adolescent traumatic memory has largely been left out of the conversation. To better understand how contemporary memory scholarship is manifested in YAL, the following essay will offer a close reading of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes (1993) by Chris Crutcher and Speak (1999) by Laurie Halse Anderson in conjunction with adolescent memory research. The accuracy of traumatic memory representation in these novels confirms the value of YAL as a means for youth to interact with and learn about traumatic memory, its processes, and its effects.

Go to article

A Statistical Approach For Analyzing Expectations Alignment Between Design Teams And Their Project Stakeholders, Matthew Christian Goodson Apr 2023

A Statistical Approach For Analyzing Expectations Alignment Between Design Teams And Their Project Stakeholders, Matthew Christian Goodson

Theses and Dissertations

Successful project management requires continuous communication aligning the expectations between project stakeholders and the project team. Expectations include both product expectations (how the product will look, feel, and perform) and programmatic expectations (timelines, deliverables, expenditure of project resources). In order to make the most effective use of project resources throughout the life of the project, a process or tool for quickly aligning expectations as closely as possible should be employed early on in the project. Project management literature is lacking in tools for aligning expectations, and solutions and best practices need to be determined since the current best option is …

Go to article

Determining Factors In Self-Guided Language Learning: Comparing More And Less Successful Learners, S. Daniel Wright Apr 2023

Determining Factors In Self-Guided Language Learning: Comparing More And Less Successful Learners, S. Daniel Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Informal language learners from extended language immersion settings such as missionaries often have very disparate outcomes. Some learners achieve high proficiency levels while others fossilize in their interlanguage once they reach basic communicative competence. Could these differences in language outcomes be explained by learning strategies, motivation, or other psychological factors? To investigate these differences, 20 participants were selected based on participation in a post-mission language ability self-assessment resource (LASER) who had taken an Oral Proficiency Interview – Computer (OPIc). These learners were interviewed to probe beyond the LASER and discover what factors seemed to correlate with higher language proficiency outcomes. …

Go to article

Gradient-Based Optimization Of Highly Flexible Aeroelastic Structures, Taylor G. Mcdonnell Apr 2023

Gradient-Based Optimization Of Highly Flexible Aeroelastic Structures, Taylor G. Mcdonnell

Theses and Dissertations

Design optimization is a method that can be used to automate the design process to obtain better results. When applied to aeroelastic structures, design optimization often leads to the creation of highly flexible aeroelastic structures. There are, however, a number of conventional design procedures that must be modified when dealing with highly flexible aeroelastic structures. First, the deformed geometry must be the baseline for weight, structural, and stability analyses. Second, potential couplings between aeroelasticity and rigid-body dynamics must be considered. Third, dynamic analyses must be modified to handle large nonlinear displacements. These modifications to the conventional design process significantly increase …

Go to article

Migration Of Elk (Cervus Canadensis) And Barriers To Movement, Levi Watkins Apr 2023

Migration Of Elk (Cervus Canadensis) And Barriers To Movement, Levi Watkins

Theses and Dissertations

Movement patterns of animals are varied, complex, and can be influenced by environmental and anthropogenic factors. One form of animal movement, migration, is influenced by environmental factors that alter the timing, duration, intensity, and likelihood of migration. Additionally, features of the landscape, both natural and anthropogenic, can alter how animals move through their seasonal and home ranges. Movement patterns can be impeded or prevented by features such as railroads, rivers, and roads. Here we explore characteristics of elk (Cervus canadensis) migration by evaluating the strategies of migration exhibited and the factors that influence migration of elk in central and eastern …

Go to article

Zero And Few-Shot Concept Learning With Pre-Trained Embeddings, Jamison M. Moody Apr 2023

Zero And Few-Shot Concept Learning With Pre-Trained Embeddings, Jamison M. Moody

Theses and Dissertations

Neural networks typically struggle with reasoning tasks on out of domain data, something that humans can more easily adapt to. Humans come with prior knowledge of concepts and can segment their environment into building blocks (such as objects) that allow them to reason effectively in unfamiliar situations. Using this intuition, we train a network that utilizes fixed embeddings from the CLIP (Contrastive Language--Image Pre-training) model to do a simple task that the original CLIP model struggles with. The network learns concepts (such as "collide" and "avoid") in a supervised source domain in such a way that the network can adapt …

Go to article

Overcoming Barriers To Native Species Restoration Using Gibberellic Acid And Fungicide Seed Coatings, Amber Jo Johnson Apr 2023

Overcoming Barriers To Native Species Restoration Using Gibberellic Acid And Fungicide Seed Coatings, Amber Jo Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Many barriers can limit restoration success. In the first chapter of this thesis, the barrier of strong seed dormancy is addressed. While dormancy benefits the species' long-term survival, it can present a challenge within a restoration scenario where rapid establishment is required. Soaking seeds in gibberellic acid (GA3) can overcome dormancy. An easier and potentially more effective method to apply this hormone is to coat seeds with a GA3-impregnated polymer, which provides a slow release of the hormone. Seed dormancy can also be mitigated by creating a favorable microsite with increased soil moisture. We compared the emergence and establishment of …

Go to article

Development, Reliability, And Validity Of A Measurement Of Attitudes Toward Non-Binary Individuals, Jane Green Apr 2023

Development, Reliability, And Validity Of A Measurement Of Attitudes Toward Non-Binary Individuals, Jane Green

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have commonly clustered together both binary transgender and non-binary individuals in their research studies. When assessing attitudes, it is likely that attitudes toward these two groups have been combined leading to valuable reports of attitudes missing from the literature. While measurements within the field of psychology have been created to assess attitudes toward binary transgender individuals, there currently is no measurement to assess attitudes toward non-binary individuals. As such, three studies were conducted to create a reliable and valid measurement of attitudes toward non-binary individuals. In Study 1 Part 1, 33 items were reworded and utilized from previously created …

Go to article

Perfusion Pressure-Flow Relationships In Synthetic Poroelastic Vocal Fold Models, Cooper B. Thacker Apr 2023

Perfusion Pressure-Flow Relationships In Synthetic Poroelastic Vocal Fold Models, Cooper B. Thacker

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to study perfusion pressure-flow relationships in self-oscillating synthetic poroelastic vocal fold (VF) models before, during, and after vibration. This was accomplished by developing a custom ultra-soft poroelastic material, incorporating the poroelastic material as the cover layer in a synthetic VF model, and studying the model vibratory response and the flow rate of fluid perfused through the cover layer while undergoing flow-induced vibration. The custom ultra-soft poroelastic material was developed using the method of direct templating with sucrose spheres as the sacrificial template and silicone as the infiltration medium. The average modulus of elasticity of …

Go to article

A Game Theoretical Approach To Optimal Pitch Sequencing, William Melville Apr 2023

A Game Theoretical Approach To Optimal Pitch Sequencing, William Melville

Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents a game theoretical solution to the difficult challenge of optimal pitch sequencing. We model the batter/pitcher matchup as a zero-sum game and determine the equilibrium strategy for both the pitcher and batter. We conclude that the Stackelberg equilibrium and our newly defined decision point equilibrium serve as effective pitch sequencing strategies.

Go to article

Rigorous Computation Of The Evans Function, Devin Mcghie Apr 2023

Rigorous Computation Of The Evans Function, Devin Mcghie

Theses and Dissertations

We develop computer-assisted methods of proof for rigorous computation of the Evans function in order to prove stability of traveling waves. We use the parameterization method, series solutions, and the Newton-Kantorovich Theorem to obtain precise, rigorous error bounds for the numerical solution of the ODE used in the construction of the Evans function. We demonstrate these methods on a scalar reaction-diffusion model and on the Gray-Scott model.

Go to article

Experimental Validation Of A Vibration-Based Sound Power Method, Trent P. Bates Apr 2023

Experimental Validation Of A Vibration-Based Sound Power Method, Trent P. Bates

Theses and Dissertations

A vibration-based sound power (VBSP) measurement method is appealing because of its potential versatility in application compared to pressure- and intensity-based methods. The VBSP method is based on the well-known elementary radiators approach and is reliant on the acoustic radiation resistance matrix. Previous research has developed and validated the VBSP method for flat plates and cylinders. This thesis details work on extending the VBSP method to arbitrarily-curved structures. The approach of computing surface normal velocities from 3D velocity data measured by a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV) is presented. This approach is validated with experimental sound power results of a …

Go to article

Factors That Influence The Recruitment And Retention Of Civil Engineers, Gina Young Souriac Apr 2023

Factors That Influence The Recruitment And Retention Of Civil Engineers, Gina Young Souriac

Theses and Dissertations

With a growing demand for civil engineers in the United States, understanding factors that influence students to choose civil engineering (CE) as a major in college, pursue an M.S. degree in CE, and persist in the CE industry can lead to valuable insights for recruitment and retention of future and current civil engineers. Additionally, understanding factors that prominently influence male and female civil engineers to persist in and depart from CE, separately, can lead to valuable insight towards improving focused recruitment and retention of both genders. This thesis includes three research studies that identify, analyze, and discuss these important factors. …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last