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

Digital Commons Network™

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

University of Central Florida

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 1171 - 1200 of 2152

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

A Crack In Everything, Jeffrey Hoffman Jan 2012

A Crack In Everything, Jeffrey Hoffman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contained herein is a close examination of self-awareness and self-portraiture as it applies to the works of artist Jeffrey Hoffman. Water, frozen into various forms and combined with natural elements of wood, slowly melt over an indeterminable amount of time, each droplet documented as the process transforms the elements. Through this process, we see change. We see time. We see truth. This documentation of change and time through natural elements is where the artwork comes full circle. Working with new media to explore man's interconnectivity to life, energy, and the cosmos, he produces time based installations, photographs, videos, and sculptures …

Go to article

Vox Populi-Vox Belli: A Historical Study Of Southern Ante Bellum Public Attitudes And Motivations Toward Secession, Julian Boyden Jan 2012

Vox Populi-Vox Belli: A Historical Study Of Southern Ante Bellum Public Attitudes And Motivations Toward Secession, Julian Boyden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines why the south seceded in 1860 as opposed to any other time in the 19th century and what changed the mentalité of the people in the period 1857-1860. The underlying issue in southern politics and the issue of secession was clearly slavery and slavery rested on the economics of cotton. Yet slavery and cotton do not explain why the South seceded in 1860 and not at other times in the preceding seventy years. 1807 saw the outlawing of the international slave trade and 1819 saw Congress pass the Slave Trade Act interdicting the ships involved. In 1828 …

Go to article

Vhs To Dvd, Ucf Libraries Jan 2012

Vhs To Dvd, Ucf Libraries

Technology Fee Funded Projects

The UCF Libraries requests $63,522.58 for a project to replace high-use VHS with DVD. The Libraries owns a rich, relevant, and frequently used collection of educational videos on VHS. VHS titles are often selected for in-class viewing

Go to article

Soviet And Eastern European Reactions To American Exhibitions: Cultural Exchange And The Cold War, 1961-1976, Jennie Edith Miller Jan 2012

Soviet And Eastern European Reactions To American Exhibitions: Cultural Exchange And The Cold War, 1961-1976, Jennie Edith Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After the signing of the Cultural Exchange Agreement in 1958, exhibitions of culture and technology were exchanged between the Soviet Union and the United States. These exhibitions continued to be exchanged well into the 1980s. This paper focuses on comment books from seven of these cultural exchange exhibitions, five in the Soviet Union and two in Eastern Europe, in the years between 1961 and 1976. The public nature of the comment books and the way they were treated by visitors made them a space for expressions of popular opinions over the issues of public policy and ideology. As such, they …

Go to article

Music And Paleolithic Man The Soundtrack Of Human Cognitive Development, Samantha Angel Jan 2012

Music And Paleolithic Man The Soundtrack Of Human Cognitive Development, Samantha Angel

HIM 1990-2015

Archaeologists have pored over countless texts of the ancient civilizations, attempting to piece together bygone worlds. However, relatively little work has been done to reconstruct the musical history of these societies, and even less on why their musical histories are important. This paper aims at a synthesis between the ancient Egyptian and classical Greek archaeological records to analyze the importance of music in Paleolithic human cognitive development. Countless musical instruments have been discovered globally, ranging from pre-Columbian bone flutes in Oaxaca, Mexico to ancient trumpets in Egyptian burials (Barber et al 2009). Apart from their place in a museum, minimal …

Go to article

University Of Central Florida Factbook 2011-2012, University Of Central Florida Jan 2012

University Of Central Florida Factbook 2011-2012, University Of Central Florida

Historical Fact Book and Enrollment

Historical fact book and enrollment data for the University of Central Florida.

Go to article

You Have Guns And So Have We...: An Ethnohistoric Analysis Of Creek And Seminole Combat Behaviors, Nathan R. Lawres Jan 2012

You Have Guns And So Have We...: An Ethnohistoric Analysis Of Creek And Seminole Combat Behaviors, Nathan R. Lawres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Resistance to oppression is a globally recognized cultural phenomenon that displays a remarkable amount of variation in its manifestations over both time and space. This cultural phenomenon is particularly evident among the Native American cultural groups of the Southeastern United States. Throughout the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries the European and American states employed tactics and implemented laws aimed at expanding the geographic boundaries of their respective states into the Tribal Zone of the Southeast. None of these groups, however, sat passively during this process; they employed resistive tactics and strategies aimed at maintaining their freedoms, their lives, and their traditional …

Go to article

With The Protection Of The Gods: An Interpretation Of The Protector Figure In Classic Maya Iconography, Tiffany M. Lindley Jan 2012

With The Protection Of The Gods: An Interpretation Of The Protector Figure In Classic Maya Iconography, Tiffany M. Lindley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Iconography encapsulates the cultural knowledge of a civilization. The ancient Maya of Mesoamerica utilized iconography to express ideological beliefs, as well as political events and histories. An ideology heavily based on the presence of an Otherworld is visible in elaborate Maya iconography. Motifs and themes can be manipulated to convey different meanings based on context. An example of this mutability can be witnessed in the depiction of Otherworld gods. Maya gods were not like Old World pantheons; gods were fluid and could function in multiple roles. Protector gods are an example of the fluidity of Maya deities. Scenes of protector …

Go to article

The Sustainability Of Overconsumption? A Discursive Analysis Of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign, Kathleen Adams Jan 2012

The Sustainability Of Overconsumption? A Discursive Analysis Of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign, Kathleen Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study inquires as to whether Walmart’s sustainability campaign represents a sincere and holistic change throughout the company’s global supply chain or if it is simply a public relations campaign which caters to the growing target market of “next-generation” consumers and justifies further expansion into “emerging markets”. A critical analysis of Walmart’s sustainability discourse is presented, using transcribed texts of various corporate and publicitygeared publications. Frequently utilized terms and themes are identified throughout the big-box retailer’s sustainability campaign which convey a distinctly Neoliberal ethos—a political economy which lies at the heart of current practices of institutional unsustainability—and emphasize the role …

Go to article

Effects Of A Reading Strategy With Digital Social Studies Texts For Eighth Grade Students, Melissa Doan Malani Jan 2012

Effects Of A Reading Strategy With Digital Social Studies Texts For Eighth Grade Students, Melissa Doan Malani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent data indicate that only 34% of American eighth grade students are able to demonstrate grade-level proficiency with academic reading tasks (NCES, 2011). The staggering nature of statistics such as this is even more profound when considering that high level literacy skills combined with mastery of digital texts have become practical requirements for success in secondary education, post-secondary education, and virtually all vocational contexts. Despite this incongruent scenario, little research has been conducted to evaluate instructional methods and reading comprehension strategies with digital texts. To address this critical issue, the present study examined the effects of a metacognitive reading comprehension …

Go to article

Geospatial Revolution And Remote Sensing Lidar In Mesoamerican Archaeology, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, Christopher T. Fisher, Stephen J. Leisz, John F. Weishampel Jan 2012

Geospatial Revolution And Remote Sensing Lidar In Mesoamerican Archaeology, Arlen F. Chase, Diane Z. Chase, Christopher T. Fisher, Stephen J. Leisz, John F. Weishampel

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

The application of light detection and ranging (LiDAR), a laser-based remote-sensing technology that is capable of penetrating overlying vegetation and forest canopies, is generating a fundamental shift in Mesoamerican archaeology and has the potential to transform research in forested areas world-wide. Much as radiocarbon dating that half a century ago moved archaeology forward by grounding archaeological remains in time, LiDAR is proving to be a catalyst for an improved spatial understanding of the past. With LiDAR, ancient societies can be contextualized within a fully defined landscape. Interpretations about the scale and organization of densely forested sites no longer are constrained …

Go to article

Rafts, Nanoparticles And Neural Disease, Vishal Gulati, Ron Wallace Jan 2012

Rafts, Nanoparticles And Neural Disease, Vishal Gulati, Ron Wallace

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

This review examines the role of membrane rafts in neural disease as a rationale for drug targeting utilizing lipid-based nanoparticles. The article begins with an overview of methodological issues involving the existence, sizes, and lifetimes of rafts, and then examines raft function in the etiologies of three major neural diseases-epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease-selected as promising candidates for raft-based therapeutics. Raft-targeting drug delivery systems involving liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles are then examined in detail.

Go to article

Monocropping Cultures Into Ruin: The Loss Of Food Varieties And Cultural Diversity, Peter J. Jacques, Jessica Racine Jacques Jan 2012

Monocropping Cultures Into Ruin: The Loss Of Food Varieties And Cultural Diversity, Peter J. Jacques, Jessica Racine Jacques

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

The loss of genetic diversity of thousands of plants and crops has been well documented at least since the 1970s, and has been understood as a result of epistemological and political economic conditions of the Green Revolution. The political economic arrangement of the Green Revolution, alongside a post-war focus on economies of scale and export-oriented growth, replace high-yield single varieties of crops for a diverse array of varieties that may not have the same yield, but may be able to resist pests, disease, and changing climatic conditions. Also, the harvest does not flow in all directions equally: Whereas small holder …

Go to article

The Quadripartite Badge: Narratives Of Power And Resurrection In Maya Iconography, Victoria Ingalls Jan 2012

The Quadripartite Badge: Narratives Of Power And Resurrection In Maya Iconography, Victoria Ingalls

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ancient Maya iconography primarily depicted elite individuals in idealized states of being and rationalized their power and authority through ideological concepts and otherworld beings. This study aims to reexamine previous assumptions made concerning the Quadripartite Badge. This motif is examined based on iconographic associations and contexts, as well as temporal and spatial distributions. The dataset was created from currently identified examples of the Quadripartite Badge, although only a select group is extensively examined. The spread of this motif is demonstrated through time and its spatial dispersals are noted for their political consequences. Indicating the liminal status of its user, the …

Go to article

Geographic And Environmental Influence On Maya Settlement Patterns Of The Northwest Yucatan: An Explanation For The Sparsely Settled Western Cenote Zone, Patrick Rohrer Jan 2012

Geographic And Environmental Influence On Maya Settlement Patterns Of The Northwest Yucatan: An Explanation For The Sparsely Settled Western Cenote Zone, Patrick Rohrer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most settlement pattern research and GIS analysis of the ancient Maya of the Northern Yucatan have focused on water availability in a dry landscape where cenotes are often the only water source. While water is of paramount importance, permanent settlement secondarily requires farmable soil, a resource often as precious as water in many parts of the Yucatan. The dynamics between these resources reveal areas of ideal settlement and more challenging landscapes for which the Maya developed strategies to overcome environmental conditions. A region of the southwest "Cenote Zone", however, appears to have presented the ancient Maya with insurmountably poor environmental …

Go to article

Detecting Submerged Remains: Controlled Research Using Side-Scan Sonar To Detect Proxy Cadavers, Carrie Healy Jan 2012

Detecting Submerged Remains: Controlled Research Using Side-Scan Sonar To Detect Proxy Cadavers, Carrie Healy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While side-scan sonar has become a valuable geophysical tool for forensic water searches, controlled research is paramount to determine the best practices for searches in aquatic environments as it provides a structured environment in which to investigate variables that influence the effectiveness of the technology and provides valuable experience for sonar operators. The purpose of this research is to conduct controlled research in order to evaluate the applicability of side-scan sonar to searches involving submerged firearms and proxy cadavers. In addition, the best practices for employing this technology in forensic searches in freshwater ponds and lakes in a humid, subtropical …

Go to article

Relating Ancient Maya Land Use Legacies To The Contemporary Forest Of Caracol, Belize, Jessica N. Hightower Jan 2012

Relating Ancient Maya Land Use Legacies To The Contemporary Forest Of Caracol, Belize, Jessica N. Hightower

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human land use legacies have significant and long lasting impacts across landscapes. However, investigating the impacts of ancient land use legacies ( > 400 years) remains problematic due to the difficulty in detecting ancient land uses, especially those beneath dense canopies. The city of Caracol, one of the most important Maya archaeological sites in Belize, was abandoned after the collapse of the Maya civilization (ca. A.D. 900), leaving behind numerous structures, causeways, and agricultural terraces that persist beneath the dense tropical forest of western Belize. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology enables detection of below canopy Maya archaeological features, providing an …

Go to article

Postcranial Osteometric Assessment Of Korean Ancestry, Elizabeth Carol Okrutny Jan 2012

Postcranial Osteometric Assessment Of Korean Ancestry, Elizabeth Carol Okrutny

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The determination of ancestry is an important part of an individual's identification when creating a biological profile. This thesis scrutinizes postcranial variation using over 65 osteometric sorting measurements in an attempt to identify those measurements that display the most significant differences among Koreans, Africans, and Europeans. Data was collected from four American skeletal collections and one South Korean skeletal collection for a total sample population of 306 individuals: 24 of Korean ancestry, 66 of African ancestry, and 216 of European ancestry. In an effort to minimize the number of measurements needed for ancestral assessment, stepwise discriminant analysis was performed for …

Go to article

Alexander Street Press, Ucf Libraries Jan 2012

Alexander Street Press, Ucf Libraries

Technology Fee Funded Projects

The UCF Libraries is requesting $244,000.00 (list price of $249,000.00 less $5,000.00 cost sharing) for the purchase of streaming videos from Alexander Street Press. The collection consists of 12,743 videos across 10 subject areas that will support the humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

Go to article

Age As A Factor In Inter-Tissue Spacing Of Stable Carbon Isotope Values In Juvenile Human Remains From The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Annie Laurie Norris Jan 2012

Age As A Factor In Inter-Tissue Spacing Of Stable Carbon Isotope Values In Juvenile Human Remains From The Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Annie Laurie Norris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although stable isotope analysis is routinely utilized in bioarchaeology and relies on principles that are well-understood, there are still fundamental issues that have not been thoroughly investigated. This thesis examines the relationship between inter-tissue spacing of carbon stable isotope values (δ13C) and age in juvenile human remains. Analyses of tissues within the same individual reveal disparate isotopic values for a variety of physiological and biological reasons discussed herein. This project examines the distance between the δ13C values in bone collagen, skin, hair, and nail, and examines how these distances vary between different age groups, utilizing data collected from 52 well-preserved …

Go to article

Integrating Differential Global Positioning Systems And Geographic Information Systems For Analysis And Mapping Of Skeletal Dispersals, Brittany Walter Jan 2012

Integrating Differential Global Positioning Systems And Geographic Information Systems For Analysis And Mapping Of Skeletal Dispersals, Brittany Walter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scene mapping is an integral part of processing a forensic scene with scattered human remains. By utilizing the appropriate mapping technique, investigators can accurately document the location of human remains and maintain a precise geospatial record of this evidence at a scene. Global positioning system (GPS) units have been used for years to survey the spatial distribution of large-scale archaeological sites. However, differential global positioning (DGPS) unit now provide decreased positional error suitable for small-scale surveys, such as forensic scenes. Because of the lack of knowledge concerning this utility in mapping a scene, controlled research is necessary to determine the …

Go to article

Perceptions Influencing School Nurse Practices To Prevent Childhood Obesity, Susan Quelly Jan 2012

Perceptions Influencing School Nurse Practices To Prevent Childhood Obesity, Susan Quelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Approximately one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese with increased risks for numerous physical and psychosocial comorbidities. Schools are ideal environments to address this serious health crisis and school nurses are uniquely positioned qualified healthcare providers to actively participate in childhood obesity prevention (COP). A review of the literature provided findings to identify a gap in the knowledge regarding the association between school nurse COP perceptions and practices. A modified theoretical framework based on Bandura’s health promotion by social cognitive theory guided this study. The purpose of this study was to identify the key perceptions (self-efficacy, …

Go to article

Maya Use And Prevalence Of The Atlatl: Projectile Point Classification Function Analysis From Chichen Itza, Tikal, And Caracol, Andrew J. Ciofalo Jan 2012

Maya Use And Prevalence Of The Atlatl: Projectile Point Classification Function Analysis From Chichen Itza, Tikal, And Caracol, Andrew J. Ciofalo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multiple scholars have briefly discussed the Maya use of the atlatl. Yet, there has never been a decisive encompassing discussion of prevalence and use of the atlatl in the Maya region with multiple lines of support from iconographic and artifactual analyses. This thesis explores the atlatl at Chichén Itzá, Tikal, and Caracol Maya sites to prove that atlatl prevalence can be interpreted primarily based on projectile point “classification function” analysis with support from iconographic and artifactual remains. The classification functions are derived from creating mutually exclusive groups of dart points and arrow points by using discrete functional analysis. Discerning between …

Go to article

That's A Wrap! The Organizational Culture And Characteristics Of Successful Film Crews, Lisa C. Cook Jan 2012

That's A Wrap! The Organizational Culture And Characteristics Of Successful Film Crews, Lisa C. Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to determine through survey research what characteristics film production crews possess that makes them so successful as an organization. The factors of age, gender, years of professional experience and education level were tested for their significance on how the respondents view their culture. Hofstede's six dimensions of organizational culture survey questions were rewritten to be applicable to the freelance film crew sample. The presentation of findings focuses on the resultant organizational profile of a film production crew, the workplace values of this group and the influence that the education level of the participants had on responses. The …

Go to article

Forming A Puerto Rican Identity In Orlando: The Puerto Rican Migration To Central Florida, 1960 - 2000, Julio R. Firpo Jan 2012

Forming A Puerto Rican Identity In Orlando: The Puerto Rican Migration To Central Florida, 1960 - 2000, Julio R. Firpo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area became the fastest growing Puerto Rican population since 1980.1 While the literature has grown regarding Orlando‘s Puerto Rican community, no works deeply analyze the push and pull factors that led to the mass migration of Puerto Ricans to Central Florida. In fact, it was the combination of deteriorating economies in both Puerto Rico and New York City (the two largest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in the United States) and the rise of employment opportunities and cheap cost of living in Central Florida that attract Puerto Ricans from the island the diaspora to the region. Furthermore, …

Go to article

The Foods And Crops Of The Muisca: A Dietary Reconstruction Of The Intermediate Chiefdoms Of Bogota (Bacata) And Tunja (Hunza), Colombia, Jorge Luis Garcia Jan 2012

The Foods And Crops Of The Muisca: A Dietary Reconstruction Of The Intermediate Chiefdoms Of Bogota (Bacata) And Tunja (Hunza), Colombia, Jorge Luis Garcia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Muisca people of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia had an exceptionally complex diet, which is the result of specific subsistence strategies, environmental advantages, and social restrictions. The distinct varieties of microclimates, caused by the sharp elevations in this part of the Andes, allows for a great biodiversity of plants and animals that was accessible to the native population. The crops of domesticated and adopted plants of the Muisca include a wide variety of tubers, cereals, fruits, and leaves that are described in detail in this thesis. The Muisca used an agricultural method known as microverticality where the different thermic …

Go to article

Stable Isotopes And Multiple Tissue Analysis: Reconstructing Life Histories For Individuals From Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Noel Johns Jan 2012

Stable Isotopes And Multiple Tissue Analysis: Reconstructing Life Histories For Individuals From Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Noel Johns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stable isotope analysis is often used to evaluate elements of the lives of past peoples, such as diet and health status, at a societal level. Analysis at an individual level is exceptionally rare, and has not been conducted using a variety of tissues representing both early life and life approximate to death. In this study, δ 13C and δ15N isotope signatures are used to create life histories for single individuals from Romano-Christian period Kellis 2 cemetery in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. Samples are obtained from several different tissues, including tooth dentin, bone collagen, hair, nail, skin, and gut content, all …

Go to article

Ritual Use Of The Human Form: A Contextual Analysis Of The "Charlie Chaplin" Figure In The Maya Lowlands, Lisa M. Lomitola Jan 2012

Ritual Use Of The Human Form: A Contextual Analysis Of The "Charlie Chaplin" Figure In The Maya Lowlands, Lisa M. Lomitola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Small anthropomorphic figures, most often referred to as “Charlie Chaplins,” appear in ritual deposits throughout the ancient Maya sites of Belize during the late Preclassic and Early Classic Periods and later, throughout the Petén region of Guatemala. Often these figures appear within similar cache assemblages and are carved from “exotic” materials such as shell or jade. This thesis examines the contexts in which these figures appear and considers the wider implications for commonly held ritual practices throughout the Maya lowlands during the Classic Period and the similarities between “Charlie Chaplin” figures and anthropomorphic figures found in ritual contexts outside of …

Go to article

Selective Multivariate Applications In Forensic Science, Caitlin Rinke Jan 2012

Selective Multivariate Applications In Forensic Science, Caitlin Rinke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A 2009 report published by the National Research Council addressed the need for improvements in the field of forensic science. In the report emphasis was placed on the need for more rigorous scientific analysis within many forensic science disciplines and for established limitations and determination of error rates from statistical analysis. This research focused on multivariate statistical techniques for the analysis of spectral data obtained for multiple forensic applications which include samples from: automobile float glasses and paints, bones, metal transfers, ignitable liquids and fire debris, and organic compounds including explosives. The statistical techniques were used for two types of …

Go to article

Florida's Cattle Culture: Ethos And Enterprise In The Sunshine State, Corinne E. Zellner Jan 2012

Florida's Cattle Culture: Ethos And Enterprise In The Sunshine State, Corinne E. Zellner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cattle ranching has been of major significance to Florida since the 16th century; however, few are aware of the historic, ecologic, economic and cultural influence of this industry. This study investigates the origins and impacts of the traditional customs and practices of Florida’s cattle ranchers, who preserve and reinvent this rich heritage today. Ranchers live closely with the land and their animals and, due to the often-uncertain and cyclical nature of the business, must possess resourcefulness and initiative to prosper. The image of the stoic cowboy has long been associated with the American West, yet before longhorn cattle ever crossed …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last