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Turn Of Phrase: Contrastive Pre-Training For Discourse-Aware Conversation Models, Roland Laboulaye Aug 2021

Turn Of Phrase: Contrastive Pre-Training For Discourse-Aware Conversation Models, Roland Laboulaye

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding long conversations requires recognizing a discourse flow unique to conversation. Recent advances in unsupervised representation learning of text have been attained primarily through language modeling, which models discourse only implicitly and within a small window. These representations are in turn evaluated chiefly on sentence pair or paragraph-question pair benchmarks, which measure only local discourse coherence. In order to improve performance on discourse-reliant, long conversation tasks, we propose Turn-of-Phrase pre-training, an objective designed to encode long conversation discourse flow. We leverage tree-structured Reddit conversations in English to, relative to a chosen conversation path through the tree, select paths of varying …

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Auditing Non-Gaap Measures: Signaling More Than Intended, Spencer B. Anderson, Jessen L. Hobson, Ryan D. Sommerfeldt Aug 2021

Auditing Non-Gaap Measures: Signaling More Than Intended, Spencer B. Anderson, Jessen L. Hobson, Ryan D. Sommerfeldt

Faculty Publications

Many companies regularly disclose non-GAAP performance measures to communicate firm-specific information that does not fit within the mold of GAAP reporting. However, these non- GAAP measures may have low information content or even be misleading to investors. Thus, the question arises of whether auditors should play a larger role in the reporting of non-GAAP measures, which currently are not audited. We run an experiment to provide ex ante evidence on the effect of auditing non-GAAP measures. Specifically, we present investor-participants with a non- GAAP measure that should be used when making investment judgments (more informative) or should not be used …

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Straight White Men's Geosocial App Preferences: Exploring The Effects Of Race, Sean Aaron Aug 2021

Straight White Men's Geosocial App Preferences: Exploring The Effects Of Race, Sean Aaron

Theses and Dissertations

Geosocial apps on mobile phones use location data to introduce many young adults to other people to initiate various types of relationships. This study examined how established racial preferences affect Straight White Men's (SWM) selection decisions of potential partners in a pseudo-geosocial app when controlling for age, attractiveness, and other profile factors of potential matches. A sample comprising exclusively of SWM was selected because historically, this demographic has benefited most from gender and racial inequalities (Thompson, 2009), and they make up the largest portion of people in interracial relationships in the United States (Livingston & Brown, 2017). We found that …

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When Clients Who Got Worse Believe They Got Better: A Qualitative Analysis Of Oq-Deteriorators Reporting Improvement In Therapy, Eric Alexander Ghelfi Aug 2021

When Clients Who Got Worse Believe They Got Better: A Qualitative Analysis Of Oq-Deteriorators Reporting Improvement In Therapy, Eric Alexander Ghelfi

Theses and Dissertations

A recent study highlighted discrepancies between qualitative client self-reports of outcome and OQ-45 reports. Specifically, only 8.8% of clients who deteriorated during a course of therapy based on the OQ-45 perceived that they had deteriorated, while 50% of these clients perceived that they had improved in therapy (Top et al., 2018). This phenomenon, where different means of tracking outcomes yield divergent results, has been called “paradoxical outcome.” The trend suggests that the most advanced forms of tracking psychotherapy outcomes might not detect important facets of outcome from the perspective of psychotherapy clients. The current study is a qualitative investigation of …

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First And Second Language Use Of Case, Aspect, And Tense In Finnish And English, Torin Kelley Aug 2021

First And Second Language Use Of Case, Aspect, And Tense In Finnish And English, Torin Kelley

Theses and Dissertations

Important to understanding bilingualism and second language (L2) learning are L2 morphological processing and acquisition of tense and aspect. This study used narrative elicitation to examine the expression of boundedness and definiteness in Finnish and English by first language (L1) Finnish speakers who speak English as an L2 and L1 English speakers who speak Finnish as an L2. In Finnish, boundedness and definiteness were largely portrayed by using partitive and accusative cases, though tense and aspect conjugation also played a role. In English, boundedness was largely conveyed through tense and aspect conjugation and definiteness through article usage. Both L1 speaker …

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Exploring Non-Functional Coupling Between Subsystems, Matt Pope Aug 2021

Exploring Non-Functional Coupling Between Subsystems, Matt Pope

Theses and Dissertations

Many software systems depend on other systems to function correctly or are themselves composed of interdependent subsystems. In that context, behavioral changes in a dependency may have consequences for a dependent subsystem. This includes changes to non-functional properties such as latency or availability. In this paper we use the term non-functional coupling to mean the extent to which a subsystem is affected by changes to non-functional properties in a dependency. We argue that non-functional coupling has implications for the maintainability, reliability and performance of an overall system. We also explore the extent to which various engineering techniques used in interaction …

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Inflammation And Altered Signaling In Obstetric Pathologies, Ya-Fang Tsai Aug 2021

Inflammation And Altered Signaling In Obstetric Pathologies, Ya-Fang Tsai

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to elucidate the molecular interactions and detail the signaling pathways in obstetric pathologies. This work first seeks to understand inflammation related complications relevant to obstetrics. Prior research in our lab identified the implications of the receptor of advanced glycation end products (RAGE) during inflammatory response in the placenta. Current work identified the presence of DNA double-strand breaks (DNA-DSBs) in inflammation associated pregnancy complications of preeclampsia (PE) and preterm labor (PTL) and demonstrated the positive role of RAGE in repairing the damage. The confluent relevance of disrupted mitochondrial function and inflammation has been recognized …

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On The Relationship Of Diabetes And Sleep Apnea: Evolution And Epigenetics, Nancy Wilson Aug 2021

On The Relationship Of Diabetes And Sleep Apnea: Evolution And Epigenetics, Nancy Wilson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis gives an overview of the relationship between diabetes, sleep apnea, obesity, and heart disease. It then addresses evidence that the traditional understanding of this relationship is incomplete or misleading. In the process, there is a brief discussion of the evolutionary rationale for the development and retention of sleep apnea in light of blood sugar dysregulation, as an adaptive mechanism in response to environmental stressors, followed by a brief overview of the general concepts of epigenetics. Finally, this paper presents the results of a literature search on the epigenetic marks and changes in gene expression found in sleep apnea …

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Structural Characteristics And Thermophysical Properties Of Molten Salts From Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Austin David Clark Aug 2021

Structural Characteristics And Thermophysical Properties Of Molten Salts From Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Austin David Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This work 1) draws insights on molten salt structure and properties directly from ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, 2) demonstrates the advantageous symbiosis of computational and experimental collaborations on molten salt research, and 3) simultaneously generates ab initio data sets for fitting an interatomic potential model for classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. This work discusses the motivations for AIMD simulations of molten salts, thermophysical properties and structural characteristics of interest, advanced methodologies for AIMD simulations, and several completed AIMD studies on molten salts. Of import are the methodological contributions of this work to AIMD simulations, primarily the radical increase …

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Impacts Of Manipulating Photoperiod On Circadian Rhythms Of Agave Photosynthesis, Robert Hadfield Aug 2021

Impacts Of Manipulating Photoperiod On Circadian Rhythms Of Agave Photosynthesis, Robert Hadfield

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Agave uses photoperiod, among other environmental conditions, to time its circadian rhythm of photosynthesis. Two species of Agave (A. americana and A. murpheyi) were tested under two extreme photoperiod conditions (constant light and constant dark) against a normal photoperiod control (12 hours light, 12 hours dark) to identify the impact of abnormal photoperiod on circadian rhythms of Agave photosynthesis. Under constant light conditions, normal oscillations in CO2 gas exchange became unpredictable in duration and amplitude in both species and became very infrequent in A. murpheyi. Under constant dark conditions, net CO2 uptake stabilized at a negative value and oscillations ceased …

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Responding To Parents' Questions Regarding Polysorbate 80, Aluminum, And Thimerosal In Vaccines, Elli Hugh, Beth Luthy Aug 2021

Responding To Parents' Questions Regarding Polysorbate 80, Aluminum, And Thimerosal In Vaccines, Elli Hugh, Beth Luthy

Student Works

Vaccines save millions of lives worldwide every year. Nevertheless, misinformation regarding vaccine ingredients circulates on various media platforms and may negatively influence parental decisions regarding childhood vaccinations. Three vaccine ingredients commonly associated with parental vaccine concerns include polysorbate 80, aluminum, and thimerosal. Common misconceptions about polysorbate 80 and neurological sequela exist within the vaccine hesitant community. Additionally, aluminum has been incorrectly connected to chronic disease in children. Though proven that thimerosal does not cause autism, vaccine critics have now inaccurately reformed the argument claiming that it is the combination of thimerosal and aluminum that causes autism. The purpose of this …

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A Qualitative Investigation Of The Implementation Of The Flipped Classroomâ In Secondary World Language Classes In The State Of Utah, Sarah Victoria Hoppes Aug 2021

A Qualitative Investigation Of The Implementation Of The Flipped Classroomâ In Secondary World Language Classes In The State Of Utah, Sarah Victoria Hoppes

Theses and Dissertations

The flipped classroom is a teaching method where students access instructional materials outside of class through teacher-made videos or readings so that time spent in-class with the instructor can focus on collaboration and student-driven practice. This instructional practice has gained popularity worldwide at the secondary and post-secondary level because of its perceived benefits for students. Such benefits include higher test scores and proficiency, more frequent interactions between teachers and students, increased content knowledge and application, and improved motivation and attitude towards a course. Although worthwhile, much of the research lacks details of teacher perspectives on the method and its use …

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The Abacus: A New Approach To Authorization, Jacob Aaron Jess Siebach Aug 2021

The Abacus: A New Approach To Authorization, Jacob Aaron Jess Siebach

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the implementation of digital authorization for computer systems, specifically how to implement an efficient and secure authorization engine that uses policies and attributes to calculate authorization. The architecture for the authorization engine is discussed, the efficiency of the engine is characterized by various tests, and the security model is reviewed against other presently existing models. The resulting efforts showed an increase in efficiency of almost two orders of magnitude, along with a reduction in the amount of processing power required to run the engine. The main focus of the work is how …

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Student Nurse Knowledge And Confidence Regarding Childhood Immunizations, Heather Westergard Aug 2021

Student Nurse Knowledge And Confidence Regarding Childhood Immunizations, Heather Westergard

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Immunization training is essential for nursing students. However, Brigham Young University's (BYU) Nursing Program lacks data regarding the current curriculum's effect on vaccination knowledge and confidence. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explore BYU nursing students' knowledge and confidence regarding vaccinations. Methods: Nursing students at BYU in the second and fourth semesters were surveyed using pre-and post-test questionnaires designed to measure student nurses' knowledge of and confidence about immunizations. To help evaluate current curricula established immunization content was taught during both the public health course and pediatric course via direct instruction, assigned reading, quizzes, exams, lab, and …

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Covid-19 Protocols In Academic Libraries In Canada And The United States: An Acrl Val Report, Holt Zaugg, Jeffrey Bullington, Stephanie Farne, Beate Gersch, Jo Ann Murphy, Lamonica Sanford Aug 2021

Covid-19 Protocols In Academic Libraries In Canada And The United States: An Acrl Val Report, Holt Zaugg, Jeffrey Bullington, Stephanie Farne, Beate Gersch, Jo Ann Murphy, Lamonica Sanford

Faculty Publications

In the Fall of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged throughout the world, educational institutions pivoted to online learning and supporting services, especially those found in academic libraries, adjusted. To better understand measures taken by academic libraries in Canada and the United States, the Association of College & Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Value of Academic Libraries (VAL) committee formed a subcommittee to examine how academic libraries adjusted and provided services to their respective institutions during COVID-19 pandemic. This report is the culmination of this examination.

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Yosuf, Yosuf, Tsos Aug 2021

Yosuf, Yosuf, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Yosef and his family of four are from the Herat Province in Afghanistan. The eldest child used to sell potatoes with Ibrahim, the middle child, who was killed by a landmine planted by counter-revolutionaries. As a result, the eldest child, Ismail, developed severe nerve and mental issues, and the wife, who is now pregnant, frequently has seizures. They sold their home to treat Ismail, but doctors say nothing can be done. Ismail’s condition continues to worsen, but he refuses to leave to see a doctor because he is afraid of the police for an unknown reason. Yosef says he is …

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Facing Fears When Fearing Faces: Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation And Approach-Avoidance In College-Aged Women With Autistic Traits And A History Of Adverse Experiences, Sarah Kamhout Aug 2021

Facing Fears When Fearing Faces: Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation And Approach-Avoidance In College-Aged Women With Autistic Traits And A History Of Adverse Experiences, Sarah Kamhout

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) may be more likely to experience symptoms of trauma exposure due to greater likelihood of facing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In order to gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms involved with ASC and PTSD in women who experience difficulty with social interactions, I examined the ability of two vision tasks-- Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation (BR) and Visual Approach/Avoidance by the Self Task (VAAST)-- to predict symptoms of both conditions as well as differentiate between them. I also examined differences in response to neutral or emotional (angry or fearful) faces under both paradigms. …

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Left Out: An Fmri Study Exploring Handedness-Based Exclusion In Memory Research, Loriana Goulding Aug 2021

Left Out: An Fmri Study Exploring Handedness-Based Exclusion In Memory Research, Loriana Goulding

Undergraduate Honors Theses

About 11% of the world population is left-handed, a significant minority of the potential research participant pool for functional MRI (fMRI) studies. However, convention in fMRI research dictates these potential participants be excluded due to evidence that left-handed people (LH) may have different lateralization of neural functioning than right-handed people (RH). This difference in lateralization may cause different areas of the brain to be activated by the same task. The current study investigates the lateralization differences between N=26 LH and N=27 RH during encoding and recognition memory tasks for words and faces. Additionally, we measured participants' laterality index by administering …

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A Usability Study Of Fido2 Roaming Software Tokens As A Password Replacement, Brian Rasmussen Aug 2021

A Usability Study Of Fido2 Roaming Software Tokens As A Password Replacement, Brian Rasmussen

Theses and Dissertations

The use of passwords for user authentication has significant shortcomings. As society becomes more dependent on the internet and web services, we need to find a replacement authentication method that users are willing to use. WebAuthn is one potential technology for password replacement. Recent studies have shown that users enjoy the usability of WebAuthn and hardware tokens as a password replacement but don't want to carry them around. Meanwhile, little to no research involves the use of software tokens. I carried out a user study of WebAuthn and roaming software tokens when used as a password replacement. We were able …

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Fathers As Stay-At-Home Dads: Fathers' And Mothers' Perspectives On Children's School Experiences, Taylor Hubbert Michelsen Aug 2021

Fathers As Stay-At-Home Dads: Fathers' And Mothers' Perspectives On Children's School Experiences, Taylor Hubbert Michelsen

Theses and Dissertations

As traditional family roles change and circumstances at home become increasingly varied in contemporary society, the experiences of children also undergo change. For instance, when fathers take on primary caregiving responsibilities, those differing circumstances also impact their children. Therefore, it is important for researchers to study how changing parental roles affect children in the home. Through the use of qualitative research design, this research focuses on how the experiences of children within the home may be impacted when fathers are the primary caregiver. Although previous research has examined several aspects of family dynamics with so-called stay-at-home fathers, research has not …

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Racial Discrimination And The Indirect Effects Of Forgiveness On Well-Being Among Emerging Polynesian Americans, Emily E. Tanner Aug 2021

Racial Discrimination And The Indirect Effects Of Forgiveness On Well-Being Among Emerging Polynesian Americans, Emily E. Tanner

Theses and Dissertations

There is a lack of research on the effects of racial discrimination on the mental health of emerging Polynesian American adults (ages 17-29). This study examines the effects of racial discrimination and the indirect effects of forgiveness on mental health among 423 Polynesian American emerging adults. Correlations were conducted in preliminary analysis then data was further analyzed through multiple regressions to determine if racial discrimination predicts psychological outcomes. A mediation analyses with Hayes PROCESS macro bootstrapping was conducted to examine the indirect effects of forgiveness. Lastly, a point-biserial correlation was conducted to examine the effects of education level on perception …

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Active Thermography For Additive Manufacturing Processes, Nicholas Jay Wallace Aug 2021

Active Thermography For Additive Manufacturing Processes, Nicholas Jay Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the research conducted for this master's thesis is to understand if active thermography is a suitable technique to detect (identify) and measure (approximate depth and or size) defects in additive manufacturing (AM) processes. Although other non-destructive measurement techniques exist, active thermography is an attractive option for AM applications because of the short measurement times that could be implemented between each layer of a print, and because of the relatively inexpensive equipment required. However, pulse thermography is typically applied to detect larger defects (>1 mm) in materials with high thermal conductivity. It was uncertain if active thermography …

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The Beneficial Effects Of The Gut-Derived Metabolite Trimethylamine N-Oxide On Functional Β-Cell Mass, Emily Suzanne Krueger Aug 2021

The Beneficial Effects Of The Gut-Derived Metabolite Trimethylamine N-Oxide On Functional Β-Cell Mass, Emily Suzanne Krueger

Theses and Dissertations

Elevated serum levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were first associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) 10 years ago. Research has since defined that serum TMAO accumulation is controlled by the diet-microbiome-liver-kidney axis. Choline related nutrients are consumed in excess during over-nutrition from a Western diet. The resultant elevated serum TMAO is investigated across various chronic metabolic diseases and many tissue types. While TMAO is most clearly linked to CVD mechanisms in vascular tissue, its molecular effects on metabolic tissues are unclear. Here we report the current standing of TMAO research in metabolic disease context across relevant metabolic tissues …

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Longitudinal Measurement Invariance Of The Outcome Questionnaire-45, Shiloh Marie Howland Aug 2021

Longitudinal Measurement Invariance Of The Outcome Questionnaire-45, Shiloh Marie Howland

Theses and Dissertations

The Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45) is a 45-item instrument designed to be used by psychotherapists to track their clients' distress over time. The OQ-45 is composed of three factors: symptomatic distress, interpersonal relations, and social role performance. Numerous researchers have attempted to replicate this intended three-factor structure in their own data, only to find poor fit. Attempts to find a factor structure that does show adequate fit have been met with mixed, but generally poor, results. Additionally, very little work has been done to establish that the OQ-45 exhibits sufficient longitudinal measurement invariance to allow comparison of OQ-45 scores over time. …

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Designing Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Systems For Improved Biocatalysis And On-Demand, Cost-Effective Biosensors, Mehran Soltani Najafabadi Aug 2021

Designing Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Systems For Improved Biocatalysis And On-Demand, Cost-Effective Biosensors, Mehran Soltani Najafabadi

Theses and Dissertations

The open nature of Cell-Free Protein Synthesis (CFPS) systems has enabled flexible design, easy manipulation, and novel applications of protein engineering in therapeutic production, biocatalysis, and biosensors. This dissertation reports on three advances in the application of CFPS systems for 1) improving biocatalysis performance in industrial applications by site-specific covalent enzyme immobilization, 2) expressing and optimizing a difficult to express a mammalian protein in bacterial-based CFPS systems and its application for cost-effective, on-demand biosensors compatible with human body fluids, and 3) streamlining the procedure of an E. coli extract with built-in compatibility with human body fluid biosensors. Site-specific covalent immobilization …

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The U.S.-Mexico Border And Housing Prices: Understanding The Impact Of Border Fencing On Property Values, Mary Jane Macarthur Aug 2021

The U.S.-Mexico Border And Housing Prices: Understanding The Impact Of Border Fencing On Property Values, Mary Jane Macarthur

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Building a barrier on the US-Mexico border has been a hot-button issue for a couple of decades. Not only do people disagree on the effectiveness of walls and fences, but there has also been debate on whether they generate positive or negative externalities on localities. Using data on construction of the US-Mexico border fence, as well as housing data for Yuma County, Arizona, I attempt to identify the treatment effect of fence construction on nearby housing prices, which may serve as an indicator of some of the external impacts of walls and fences. Mine is the first study to quantify …

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Immunoaffinity Monoliths For Multiplexed Extraction Of Preterm Birth Biomarkers From Human Blood Serum In 3d Printed Microfluidic Devices, Haifa Mohammad Almughamsi Aug 2021

Immunoaffinity Monoliths For Multiplexed Extraction Of Preterm Birth Biomarkers From Human Blood Serum In 3d Printed Microfluidic Devices, Haifa Mohammad Almughamsi

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth (PTB) results in over 15 million early births annually and is the leading cause of neonatal deaths. There are no clinical methods currently available to evaluate risk of PTB at early stages in pregnancy; thus, a rapid diagnostic to analyze PTB risk would be beneficial. Microfluidic immunoaffinity extraction is a promising platform for preparing complex samples, such as maternal serum with PTB risk biomarkers. 3D printed microfluidic devices have advantages over conventional microfluidic systems including simple fabrication and potential for iterative optimization to improve designs. In this work, I developed immunoaffinity monoliths in 3D printed microfluidic devices modified …

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Secularism: A Measure Of Explicit Agreement With Assumptions Of Secularism (Meaas), Conner Douglas Jones Aug 2021

Secularism: A Measure Of Explicit Agreement With Assumptions Of Secularism (Meaas), Conner Douglas Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Values are inherent within cultures, relationships, and many other systems, however, little study has been done on the extent to which individuals may explicitly agree with the metaphysical assumptions that much of psychological science relies upon. Psychological science, which uses scientific methodology, is a trusted source of knowledge for many students. Scientific methodology is conceptually linked to assumptions of naturalism, which makes claims about the truth of reality. These naturalistic assumptions pertain to ideas of disenchantment, which describe the world as free from any transcendent quality. These same ideas have become popular among people of the Western world and are …

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An Investigation Of The Impact Gender-Specific Course Grouping Has On Female Middle-School Students' Concept Of And Interests Toward Technology And Engineering, Thomas Broderick Walsh Aug 2021

An Investigation Of The Impact Gender-Specific Course Grouping Has On Female Middle-School Students' Concept Of And Interests Toward Technology And Engineering, Thomas Broderick Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

Attempts to improve retention, interest, and enrollment of females in Technology & Engineering Education courses have included a variety of approaches including female-only classes. However, the implications of such courses have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, an investigation of female-only classes was undertaken; the findings revealed that the overall enrollment of females went up in the course and in subsequent classes, these students maintained their interests and attitudes towards Technology and Engineering, their perceptions of an engineer's gender changed from that of mostly male to mostly female, and their concepts of what an engineer does changed from mostly building or …

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Effects Of Background Noise On The Speech Acoustics Of People With Aphasia, Kirsten Dixon Aug 2021

Effects Of Background Noise On The Speech Acoustics Of People With Aphasia, Kirsten Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effect of hearing six background noise conditions (silent baseline, pink noise, monologue, lively conversation, one-sided phone call, and cocktail noise) on acoustic measures of speech production during story retells in people with aphasia. Eleven individuals with aphasia and 11 age- and gender-matched control participants took part in the study. Participants heard the background noise conditions through open-back headphones while they retold six short stories. The examiner calculated mean and standard deviation of intensity, mean and standard deviation of fundamental frequency (F0), and speech rate in words per minute. A Matlab application that identified pauses (i.e., periods …

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