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Cross-Continental Insights Into Jaguar (Panthera Onca) Ecology And Conservation, Joe Figel Jan 2017

Cross-Continental Insights Into Jaguar (Panthera Onca) Ecology And Conservation, Joe Figel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a widely distributed large carnivore and the focal species of a range-wide connectivity initiative known as the jaguar conservation network (JCN). Comprised of ~83 Jaguar Conservation Units (JCUs) and ~75 corridors from northern Mexico to Argentina, the JCN functions as a conduit for jaguar movement and gene flow. Key linkages in the network are imperiled by human population growth, large-scale agriculture, highway expansion, and other infrastructural development. Labeled "corridors of concern," these vulnerable linkages are imperative to the maintenance of connectivity and genetic diversity throughout jaguar distribution. I take a multi-faceted approach to analyze conservation …

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Applied Problem Solving In Children With Adhd: The Mediating Roles Of Working Memory And Mathematical Calculation, Lauren Friedman Jan 2017

Applied Problem Solving In Children With Adhd: The Mediating Roles Of Working Memory And Mathematical Calculation, Lauren Friedman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The difficulties children with ADHD experience solving applied math problems (i.e., word problems) are well documented; however, the independent and/or interactive contribution of cognitive processes underlying these difficulties is not fully understood and warrant scrutiny. The current study examines two primary cognitive processes integral to children's ability to solve applied math problems: working memory (WM) and math calculation ability (i.e., the ability to utilize specific facts, skills, or processes related to basic math operations stored in long-term memory). Thirty-six boys with ADHD-combined presentation and 33 typically developing (TD) boys aged 8-12 years old were administered multiple counterbalanced tasks to assess …

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System For Metal Coated Fiber Fabrication, Da Zhang Jan 2017

System For Metal Coated Fiber Fabrication, Da Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many specific applications, such as sensors, aerospace, chemical industry, deep-well oil-field industry, metal-coated fiber shows strong abilities to satisfy people's requirement. With in-line coating technology, we are able to coat Aluminum on the fibers. Using electromagnetic induction, we can easily heat an electrically conducting thing such as a metal with the eddy current. This process is defined as Induction heating. And we will melt the Aluminum by this induction heating during drawing the fibers on the tower. Introduce the fiber tower system. The drawing process of in-line technology is formed of the following steps: Position, Melting, Forming into fibers, …

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Picosecond Yb-Doped Fiber Amplifier, Weibin Zhu Jan 2017

Picosecond Yb-Doped Fiber Amplifier, Weibin Zhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to its versatility, rare earth doped fiber amplifier (RDFA) has attracted a lot of researchers worldwide in recent years. Depends on different kinds of rare earth ion, RDFA can be categorized into neodymium doped fiber amplifier (NDFA), erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), thulium doped fiber amplifier (TDFA), and so forth. Among many kinds of RDFA, the ytterbium doped fiber amplifier (YDFA) has received even more interest, especially in high power application, mainly because of its broad gain bandwidth and high conversion efficiency which are due to its relatively simple electronic structure. The purpose of this research is to study …

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A Study Of The Relationship Between The Quality Of District Supervisor Narrative Feedback To School Principals As It Relates To Student Achievement, Fiscal Management, School Climate, And Teacher Effectiveness, Karena Chunoo Jan 2017

A Study Of The Relationship Between The Quality Of District Supervisor Narrative Feedback To School Principals As It Relates To Student Achievement, Fiscal Management, School Climate, And Teacher Effectiveness, Karena Chunoo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of narrative feedback from district supervisors given to school principals. In addition, building on the research of effective feedback, another purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between supervisor narrative feedback to school principals and four pillars of principal responsibility: student achievement, school climate, fiscal responsibility, and teacher performance. Narrative observation data from the School Leadership Evaluation - Florida Model were analyzed from a large urban school district to determine the level, (i.e., quality) of narrative feedback provided to school principals. Additional data were collected on the four …

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A Study Of The Relationship Between Continuous Professional Learning Community Implementation And Student Achievement In A Large Urban School District, Erica Sutula Jan 2017

A Study Of The Relationship Between Continuous Professional Learning Community Implementation And Student Achievement In A Large Urban School District, Erica Sutula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this causal comparative study was to understand the differences in comparative data across a large urban school district and to examine the continued effects of the PLC model on teacher and leader perception of the model and student achievement as measured by the 2012 and 2014 FCAT 2.0 Reading and Mathematics. The population for this study included all instructional and leadership personnel in schools within the target school district, with a final convenience sample across the two school years of N=5,954. The research questions for this study focused on (a) the change in teacher's perception of teachers …

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The Impact Of Ongoing Science Professional Development On Standardized Assessments Of Student Achievement, Leah Torres Jan 2017

The Impact Of Ongoing Science Professional Development On Standardized Assessments Of Student Achievement, Leah Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify how ongoing science professional development impact students' achievement on standardized assessments. The students' end-of-year assessment and State Science Assessment data were collected from a Central Florida school district. The student data were divided into categories based on teachers' participation in on-going professional development opportunities. The teachers were categorized by the number of types of professional development opportunities they attended. The mean assessment scores of students whose all teachers did or did not participate were calculated, and t-tests were run to find the significance between the means. There was no significance in the …

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A Study Of Internet Spending And Graduation Rates: A Correlational Study, Diana Violette Jan 2017

A Study Of Internet Spending And Graduation Rates: A Correlational Study, Diana Violette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school district spending on Internet access and student achievement, defined by graduation rates, in the state of Florida. Internet funding received for Internet access from E-rate funding administered by the Universal Service Administration Company (USAC) and graduation rates of the 67 school districts in the state of Florida were compared. Further, the data were adjusted for socio-economic status (SES) to determine the relationship between school districts' SES and spending on Internet access. Lastly, school district connectivity and bandwidth were examined to determine whether the ConnectED initiative requirements were related …

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Exploring The Experiences Contributing To The Success Of High-Achieving Black Female Undergraduate Students At A Predominantly White Institution, Whitney Watkins Jan 2017

Exploring The Experiences Contributing To The Success Of High-Achieving Black Female Undergraduate Students At A Predominantly White Institution, Whitney Watkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much of the literature regarding Black students at predominantly White institutions (PWI) focuses on these students' academic difficulty, while there is far less attention paid to the performance of higher achieving Black students (Fries-Britt, 1998; Fries-Britt & Griffin, 2007). Therefore, this study explored the lived experiences of high-achieving Black female students, focusing particularly on the experiences which contribute to their success at a PWI. The qualitative phenomenological research design was used to highlight emergent themes revealed during the study. Eight purposely selected students participated in one-on-one semi structured interviews and a Sister Circle group process. The participants' stories were highlighted …

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An Examination Of Inclusive Practices For Junior Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities In Gaborone, Botswana, Samantha Mrstik Jan 2017

An Examination Of Inclusive Practices For Junior Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities In Gaborone, Botswana, Samantha Mrstik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The country of Botswana has passed laws to support the human rights of their citizens. In accordance with the UN's guidelines, Botswana's human rights initiatives, and the international movement towards inclusive education, inclusive educational reform is taking place. In this ethnographic study, the researcher has examined the inclusive practices currently in place to support junior secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) in Gaborone, Botswana over a four-month period. Participants included administrators, general and special education teachers, and students with LD. The themes of routine, academic activities, classroom life, and accommodations for students with LD emerged upon analysis and are discussed …

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Role Ambiguity: Defining The Elusive Role Of The Special Education Teacher Who Works In Inclusive Settings, Dena Slanda Jan 2017

Role Ambiguity: Defining The Elusive Role Of The Special Education Teacher Who Works In Inclusive Settings, Dena Slanda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of special education teachers who worked in inclusive settings. Given the increasing number of students with disabilities receiving special education services in the general education classroom (U.S. Department of Education, 2016), there is a critical need to understand the dynamic role of a special education teacher who works in inclusive settings. Federal mandates have required special education teachers working in inclusive settings to rethink their roles (McLeskey, Landers, Hoppey, & Williamson, 2011) and restructure their approach to providing specially-designed services. Further, these roles are dependent on those who interpret and implement policy and …

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Quantification Of Non-Stoichiometry And Impurities In Transparent Yag Ceramics By Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs), Sudeep Pandey Jan 2017

Quantification Of Non-Stoichiometry And Impurities In Transparent Yag Ceramics By Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs), Sudeep Pandey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transparent ceramics are an important class of optical materials with applications in street-lighting, high-strength windows, electro- and magneto-optical isolators, high-power laser gain media and nuclear radiation detectors. Compared to single-crystal growth, ceramic processing enables size scalability, near net-shape forming and prevents issues associated with dopant segregation and inhomogeneity, such as stress-induced birefringence and wavefront distortions. The fabrication of high optical grade ceramics by route of powder sintering, relies on a controlled set of techniques preventing the formation of scattering centers (pores and secondary phases) and harmful point defects (color centers, charge-carrier trapping sites). This thesis work investigates a novel approach …

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Predictive Modeling Of Functional Materials For Catalytic And Sensor Applications, Takat Rawal Jan 2017

Predictive Modeling Of Functional Materials For Catalytic And Sensor Applications, Takat Rawal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research conducted in my dissertation focuses on theoretical and computational studies of the electronic and geometrical structures, and the catalytic and optical properties of functional materials in the form of nano-structures, extended surfaces, two-dimensional systems and hybrid structures. The fundamental aspect of my research is to predict nanomaterial properties through ab-initio calculations using methods such as quantum mechanical density functional theory (DFT) and kinetic Monte Carlo simulation, which help rationalize experimental observations, and ultimately lead to the rational design of materials for the electronic and energy-related applications. Focusing on the popular single-layer MoS2, I first show how its hybrid …

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Improving Instructional Strategies In Higher Education For Students With A Learning Disability In A General Education Science Course, Brian Ogle Jan 2017

Improving Instructional Strategies In Higher Education For Students With A Learning Disability In A General Education Science Course, Brian Ogle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Dissertation in Practice employed a mixed-methods design to identify preferred instructional methods in a college level science course as well as the self-reported challenges to learning science in college by students with a learning disability. In addition, the relationships between preferred instructional strategies and learner characteristics such as declared major, and learning disability were examined. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected from a sample of 48 participants using an electronic survey. Additionally, eight participants participated in focus groups to collect in-depth qualitative data. All participants are current students enrolled full-time at Beacon College. Each participant completed a science college …

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The Contribution Of Educators' Levels Of Inspiration And Compassion For Others To Their Degree Of Burnout, Samuel Bierbrauer Jan 2017

The Contribution Of Educators' Levels Of Inspiration And Compassion For Others To Their Degree Of Burnout, Samuel Bierbrauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the directional relationship between educators' levels of inspiration and compassion for others to their degree of burnout. Specifically, the investigation tested the hypothesized directional relationship that educators' who report higher levels of inspiration (as measured by the Educator Inspire Scale, EIS; Lambie, Barden, & Bierbrauer, 2016) and compassion for others (as measured by the Compassion for Others Scale; COS; Pommier, 2010) would score at lower levels of burnout (as measured by the three components of burnout [emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment] on the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educator Survey; MBI-ES; Maslach, et al., 1996). In addition, the …

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Analysis Of The Effects Of Formative Assessment In Promoting Transfer Of Learning In An Undergraduate General Microbiology Laboratory Course, Andrea Rediske Jan 2017

Analysis Of The Effects Of Formative Assessment In Promoting Transfer Of Learning In An Undergraduate General Microbiology Laboratory Course, Andrea Rediske

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The undergraduate microbiology lab serves an important role in establishing a foundation of best practices in aseptic technique and infection control for pre-medical, pre-nursing, pre-pharmacy, or pre-allied health students. The high incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in the US and evidence in the literature of less effective implementation of proper aseptic technique among apprentice doctors and nursing students suggests that more effective transfer of learning could improve implementation of these procedures in the clinical setting. The research described in this study aimed to assess learning transfer as it applied to aseptic techniques and infection control skills learned in the undergraduate …

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Filtering Problems In Stochastic Tomography, Tyler Gomez Jan 2017

Filtering Problems In Stochastic Tomography, Tyler Gomez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Distinguishing signal from noise has always been a major goal in probabilistic analysis of data. Such is no less the case in the field of medical imaging, where both the processes of photon emission and their rate of absorption by the body behave as random variables. We explore methods by which to extricate solid conclusions from noisy data involving an X-ray transform, long the mathematical mainstay of such tools as computed axial tomography (CAT scans). Working on the assumption of having some prior probabilities assigned to various states a body can be found in, we introduce and make rigorous an …

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Photothermal Lensing In Mid-Infrared Materials, Justin Cook Jan 2017

Photothermal Lensing In Mid-Infrared Materials, Justin Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A thorough understanding of laser-materials interactions is crucial when designing and building optical systems. An ideal test method would probe both the thermal and optical properties simultaneously for materials under large optical loads where detrimental thermal effects emerge. An interesting class of materials are those used for infrared wavelengths due to their wide spectral transmission windows and large optical nonlinearities. Since coherent sources spanning the mid-wave and long-wave infrared wavelength regions have only become widely available in the past decade, data regarding their thermal and optical responses is lacking in literature. Photothermal Lensing (PTL) technique is an attractive method for …

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Filament Wavefront Evolution, Daniel Thul Jan 2017

Filament Wavefront Evolution, Daniel Thul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Filamentation is a complex process that gives rise to many nonlinear interactions. However, the fundamentals of filament formation and propagation can be explained in terms of two dominant mechanisms: Kerr self-focusing and plasma defocusing. The first to occur, self-focusing, is responsible for an increase in irradiance through beam collapse. This process requires sufficient initial peak power, on the order of gigawatts for near infrared beams in air. Plasma defocusing then arrests the collapse process once the irradiance reaches the ionization threshold of the medium. These two processes balance each other in an extended plasma channel known as a filament. A …

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Examining The Role Of Cardiovascular And Cognitive Fitness In Goal-Directed Aiming Across The Lifespan, Michael Rupp Jan 2017

Examining The Role Of Cardiovascular And Cognitive Fitness In Goal-Directed Aiming Across The Lifespan, Michael Rupp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Older adults experience more difficulties completing goal directed movements than younger adults. The reasons for this have not been completely elucidated within the research literature; however, it is thought that age related movement differences are due to at least one of three possible reasons. The current study investigated the influence of these three hypotheses: (1) biomechanical changes (limbs, joints, or muscles), (2) sensory feedback processing ability, or (3) differences in overall movement strategy on movement kinematics. Additionally, physical activi-ty is known to improve both physical and cognitive functioning and staying cognitively active may also attenuate age-related declines in cognitive ability; …

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Communism's Futures: Intelligentsia Imaginations In The Writings Of The Strugatsky Brothers, Elizabeth Tammaro Jan 2017

Communism's Futures: Intelligentsia Imaginations In The Writings Of The Strugatsky Brothers, Elizabeth Tammaro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were the most popular science fiction writing duo in Soviet Russia from the 1960s through the 1980s. Examining their imaginative fictional worlds against the background of wider changes in the Soviet Union allows scholars to gain insights in the world of the Soviet intelligentsia, the educated bearers of culture. As members of this group, the Strugatskys expressed the hopes, frustrations and fears, of their peers, vindicating their intellectual and emotional life. I support the argument that the Brothers occupied a middle ground between conformity and dissident, dubbed the "lost" intelligentsia by Lloyd Churchward. I demonstrate this …

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School Has A Bad Storyline: Gamification In Educational Environments, Irene L. Pynn Jan 2017

School Has A Bad Storyline: Gamification In Educational Environments, Irene L. Pynn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School often has low engagement and frustrating or absent options for the kind of agency the Federal Government's 2016 National Education Technology Plan now recommends educators include in their curriculum. Video games offer opportunities for people to participate in critical problem solving through creative projects. From balancing character statistics, to collaborating with other players, to making ethical and tactical decisions that can change the outcome of the story, successful games draw on the player's interest in learning and analyzing numbers, locations, visual clues, narrative elements, people, and more. One useful example may be found in visual novels (VNs), a medium …

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Monitoring Crystal Structure Refinements Using Solid-State Nmr Chemical Shift Tensors, Keyton Kalakewich Jan 2017

Monitoring Crystal Structure Refinements Using Solid-State Nmr Chemical Shift Tensors, Keyton Kalakewich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inclusion of lattice-fields in density functional theory (DFT) methods has enabled the accurate calculation of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) chemical shift tensors. Calculated 13C and 15N tensors (i.e. 3 principle values per nucleus) can be used to monitor crystal structure refinements and to select the correct structure from a large population of computationally generated candidates. In this dissertation, chapter 2 describes a methodology to improve established crystal structures from three different diffraction techniques involving geometric refinement monitored using SSNMR tensor values. The calculated 13C tensors for three relatively simple organic compounds (i.e. acetaminophen, naphthalene, and adenosine) are shown to …

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Growth And Doping Of Mos2 Thin Films For Electronic And Optoelectronic Applications, Hussain Abouelkhair Jan 2017

Growth And Doping Of Mos2 Thin Films For Electronic And Optoelectronic Applications, Hussain Abouelkhair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MoS2 high absorption coefficient, high mobility, mechanical flexibility, and chemical inertness is very promising for many electronic and optoelectronic applications. The growth of high-quality MoS2 by a scalable and doping compatible method is still lacking. Therefore, the suitable dopants for MoS2 are not fully explored yet. This dissertation consists mainly of four main studies. The first study is on the growth of MoS2 thin films by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. Scanning electron microscope images revealed the growth of microdomes of MoS2 on top of a smooth MoS2 film. These microdomes are very promising as a broadband omnidirectional light trap …

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Do Multiple Conditions Elicit The Visual Redundant Signals Effect In Simple Response Times?, Ada Mishler Jan 2017

Do Multiple Conditions Elicit The Visual Redundant Signals Effect In Simple Response Times?, Ada Mishler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The redundant signals effect, or redundancy gain, is an increase in human processing efficiency when target redundancy is introduced into a display. An advantage for two visual signals over one has been found in a wide variety of speeded response time tasks, but does not always occur and may be weakened by some task parameters. These disparate results suggest that visual redundancy gain is not a unitary effect, but is instead based on different underlying mechanisms in different tasks. The current study synthesizes previous theories applied to redundancy gain into the three-conditions hypothesis, which states that visual redundancy gain depends …

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Novel Photonic Resonance Arrangements Using Non-Hermitian Exceptional Points, Hossein Hodaei Jan 2017

Novel Photonic Resonance Arrangements Using Non-Hermitian Exceptional Points, Hossein Hodaei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, non-Hermitian degeneracies also known as exceptional points (EPs) have emerged as a new paradigm for engineering the response of optical systems. EPs can appear in a wide class of open non-Hermitian configurations. Among different types of non-conservative photonic systems, parity-time (PT) symmetric arrangements are of particular interest since they provide an excellent platform to explore the physics of exceptional points. In this work, the intriguing properties of exceptional points are utilized to address two of the long standing challenges in the field of integrated photonics- enforcing single mode lasing in intrinsically multimode cavities and enhancing the sensitivity …

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A Study Of The Relationship Between Second-Order Change Leadership Behaviors Of High School Administrators And Student Achievement From 2016-2017, Eugene Pringle Jr. Jan 2017

A Study Of The Relationship Between Second-Order Change Leadership Behaviors Of High School Administrators And Student Achievement From 2016-2017, Eugene Pringle Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of a relationship between second-order change leadership behaviors of high school administrators and changes in student achievement from the school year 2016 to 2017 on the Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts/Reading component and the Algebra 1 End of Course examination in two large urban school districts. This study further sought to determine the leadership behaviors that high school administrators felt had the most impact on student achievement. As a mixed-method research study (N = 69), quantitative and qualitative data were collected for analyses. Quantitative data were collected via the …

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Generation Of High-Flux Attosecond Pulses And Towards Attosecond-Attosecond Pump-Probe Experiments, Yang Wang Jan 2017

Generation Of High-Flux Attosecond Pulses And Towards Attosecond-Attosecond Pump-Probe Experiments, Yang Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At present, the energy of a single isolated attosecond pulse is limited to nanojoule levels. As a result, an intense femtosecond pulse has always been used in combination with a weak attosecond pulse in time-resolved experiments. To reach the goal of conducting true attosecond pump-attosecond probe experiments, a high flux laser source has been developed that can potentially deliver microjoule level isolated attosecond pulses in the 50 eV range, and a unique experimental end station has been fabricated and implemented that can provide precision control of the attosecond-attosecond pump-probe pulses. In order to scale up the attosecond flux, a unique …

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Reproductive Life History And Signal Evolution In A Multi-Species Assemblage Of Electric Fish, Joseph Waddell Jan 2017

Reproductive Life History And Signal Evolution In A Multi-Species Assemblage Of Electric Fish, Joseph Waddell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Animals that co-occur in sympatry with multiple closely-related species use reproductive mate attraction signals not only to assess the quality of a potential conspecific mate (sexual selection), but also to discriminate conspecifics from heterospecifics (species recognition). However, the extent to which sexual selection and species recognition may interact, or even conflict, is poorly known. Neotropical electric fish offer unrivaled opportunities for understanding this problem. They generate simple, stereotyped mate attraction signals that are easy to record and quantify, and that are well-understood from the neurobiological perspective. Additionally, they live in electrically-crowded environments, where multiple congeners live and reproduce in close …

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Synaesthetics, Samantha Turner Jan 2017

Synaesthetics, Samantha Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Synaesthetics is a new philosophy of the arts. Expanding on its predecessors, aesthetics and its many branches of thought, Synaesthetics bridges the long-standing explanatory gap across the disciplines of science, spirituality, and art. The arts become the vehicle of exploring new ways to synthesize and study their cognitive effects and implications on aesthetes, be they audience or creators. The examination of a synthesis in color and sound, inspired by research in synaesthesia, is a model for explaining the new philosophy, as well as investigating its impact. Theatre is introduced as the most valuable art form with which to engage this …

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