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Defect-Guided And Energy-Driven Unfolding With Learning-Based Strategies: From Geometries With Compact Refolding To Garments, Shah Wasif Sazzad Jan 2026

Defect-Guided And Energy-Driven Unfolding With Learning-Based Strategies: From Geometries With Compact Refolding To Garments, Shah Wasif Sazzad

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Unfolding and folding are related geometric and mechanical transformations fundamental to structural applications. Particularly, unfolding curved surfaces is important for deployable structures, garment pattern generation, etc. A central challenge is minimizing geometric distortion between a surface and its unfolded counterpart avoiding overlaps. As regions of lower Gaussian curvature typically produce less distortion during flattening, identifying curvature distribution becomes essential. Topological defects in a particle assembly on a surface in its minimum interaction-energy configuration indicate regions of concentrated curvature. In this work, an unfolding method is proposed that segments the surface using defects' location. Cutlines connecting the defects isolate lower curvature …

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Monitoring Shifts In Estuarine Microbial Communities: A Dna-Metabarcoding Approach, Ashley M. Reaume Jan 2026

Monitoring Shifts In Estuarine Microbial Communities: A Dna-Metabarcoding Approach, Ashley M. Reaume

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Estuarine microbial communities, including plankton, algae, and bacteria, play important roles in nutrient cycling and food web structure. They are sensitive to changes in abiotic conditions, and shifts in community composition can provide insight into estuarine ecosystem functioning in the face of various physiochemical and anthropogenic stressors. Therefore, monitoring these communities is essential for understanding and maintaining estuarine health. DNA metabarcoding is an emerging technique for enhancing biological monitoring, allowing for the detection of multiple species within a single sample. This dissertation first focuses on how methodological decisions impact DNA metabarcoding results and then implements these optimized methods to perform …

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Experimental Characterization Of Obstacle-Driven Ddt And The Performance Of Relief Dump Tanks In Detonation Systems, Bryan Suarez Jan 2026

Experimental Characterization Of Obstacle-Driven Ddt And The Performance Of Relief Dump Tanks In Detonation Systems, Bryan Suarez

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This study investigates the lifecycle of a detonation event in a modular detonation
tube facility. It focuses on the mechanisms of deflagration-to-detonation transition
(DDT) and the effectiveness of a pressure relief system. With a stoichiometric
hydrogen-oxygen mixture, the research aims to characterize the effect of
interchangeable turbulator obstacles on the DDT process. By varying blockage
ratios and obstacle geometries in the pre-detonation section. This study identifies
how physical characteristics influence transition efficiency. The experimental data
collected includes pressure spikes and wave speed which were then used to
validate against the Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) theory at initial pressures of 350 Torr
and …

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Thermomechanical Modeling Of Transpiration Surfaces For Hypersonic Propulsion, Spencer D. Smith Jan 2026

Thermomechanical Modeling Of Transpiration Surfaces For Hypersonic Propulsion, Spencer D. Smith

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Hypersonic flight vehicles are a promising form of high speed passenger transport and efficient space access architectures. However, they are fundamentally a thermally limited technology. High heat fluxes exceeding 10 MW/m2 and gas temperatures between 3000-4000K can be found both within the engine, and on the outer surface. Current conventional engineering materials are non-viable at these conditions. In order to make these materials viable, active cooling strategies could be utilized. One particularly promising type is transpiration cooling, where a coolant is diffused through a porous surface. Although researched heavily in the 1960s, adoption is still minimal. Part of the reason …

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A Sensor Fusion And Optimization Framework For High-Resolution Power Outage Detection And Energy Asset Allocation, Elizabeth Trader Jan 2026

A Sensor Fusion And Optimization Framework For High-Resolution Power Outage Detection And Energy Asset Allocation, Elizabeth Trader

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Existing power outage datasets lack the spatial and temporal resolution required for neighborhood- level risk assessment, and conventional energy system design optimizes for cost without accounting for community-level demand - resulting in inefficient and inequitable asset de- ployment. This dissertation presents IONCORTEX, a framework integrating three technical contributions: a heterogeneous sensor fusion pipeline combining social media signals with municipal infrastructure records for intersection-level outage detection at six-hour tempo- ral resolution, maintaining detection capability during telecommunications disruptions; a techno-economic analysis pipeline evaluating photovoltaic, battery storage, hydrogen, and diesel portfolios using NREL’s System Advisor Model with Monte Carlo uncertainty quan- tification; and …

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Oblique Detonation Waves In Internal Axisymmetric Converging Flow, Zachary P. White Jan 2026

Oblique Detonation Waves In Internal Axisymmetric Converging Flow, Zachary P. White

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Detonative combustion offers significant thermodynamic advantages for high‑speed propulsion, motivating the development of detonation‑based combustors for hypersonic flight. Among these, oblique detonation wave (ODW) engines require extremely high combustor velocities to achieve steady wave stabilization. While most prior experimental and numerical studies have focused on planar two‑dimensional geometries, axisymmetric combustors offer practical benefits for hypersonic vehicle integration and may influence achievable pressure gain. However, the effects of inward‑turning axisymmetric compression on ODW formation and performance remain largely unexplored. This work presents an experimentally stabilized ODW formed on an internal axisymmetric converging ramp. Experiments were conducted in a high‑enthalpy blowdown wind …

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From Motherhood To Sisterhood: Women Strike For Peace And The Transmission Of Feminist Consciousness, Olivia R. Aldrich Jan 2026

From Motherhood To Sisterhood: Women Strike For Peace And The Transmission Of Feminist Consciousness, Olivia R. Aldrich

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Women Strike for Peace (WSP) has traditionally been understood as a maternalist peace movement that emerged in response to atmospheric nuclear testing during the early Cold War era. This thesis argues that WSP’s history reveals a more nuanced relationship between motherhood, feminism, and political activism than existing scholarship has suggested. Rather than operating in distinct stages, maternalism and feminism operated simultaneously, working alongside one another throughout the organization’s history. Furthermore, this thesis builds upon Ednie Kaeh Garrison’s concept of feminist “radio waves,” arguing that WSP functioned as a transmitter of feminist consciousness, where ideas, organizational practices, and different political identities …

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Site Use And Demographic Changes In A Northwest Atlantic Sea Turtle Foraging Ground, Ryan C. Welsh Jan 2026

Site Use And Demographic Changes In A Northwest Atlantic Sea Turtle Foraging Ground, Ryan C. Welsh

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

and site fidelity, making mortality difficult to distinguish from redistribution. We developed a behaviorally explicit framework to separate true mortality from changes in availability caused by movement and redistribution. We evaluated this problem for juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) captured at the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant intake canal on Florida’s Atlantic coast using a multi-decade capture–mark–recapture record spanning 1977 - 2023. Hidden Markov Models classified individuals into latent habitat-use strategies (Nomadic, Resident, and Transient) based on capture timing and body size. Across both species, these strategies captured consistent differences in site fidelity and recapture …

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Effects Of Back-Pressure On Pseudo-Shock Systems, Emil C. Alunno Jan 2026

Effects Of Back-Pressure On Pseudo-Shock Systems, Emil C. Alunno

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The isolator of a scramjet engine houses a pseudo-shock, a compressive flow structure that raises the static pressure and decelerates the incoming supersonic flow for efficient combustion while shielding the inlet from the elevated pressure downstream. Under sufficient back pressure the leading shock bifurcates and forms a shock train followed by a shockless mixing region, and the resulting system oscillates even under nominally steady conditions; this unsteadiness distorts the flow, can drive the pseudo-shock out of the isolator and unstart the inlet. This thesis experimentally examines how a pseudo-shock in a constant-area isolator at a measured entrance Mach number of …

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Infrared Systems And Their Application On Target Detection And Geolocation, Li Zhang Jan 2026

Infrared Systems And Their Application On Target Detection And Geolocation, Li Zhang

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The infrared spectrum contains various sub-bands (from near infrared (NIR) to long-wave infrared (LWIR), which are specialized at different detection tasks. Objects that are well camouflaged to human vision can be highly noticeable in NIR imagery. For vision navigation, the varying illumination condition and the cluttered urban background poses challenges in the visible band but can easily be resolved by using a thermal imager operating in LWIR. Despite this potential, practical deployment remains limited by the lack of suitable platforms, task-specific datasets, and long-duration field validation. This dissertation addresses these gaps through the design and evaluation of two infrared sensing …

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An Examination Of The Impact Of School Context And Socioeconomic Status On Agency And Creative Productivity In Gifted High School Students, Elizabeth Bronson Jan 2026

An Examination Of The Impact Of School Context And Socioeconomic Status On Agency And Creative Productivity In Gifted High School Students, Elizabeth Bronson

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This explanatory sequential mixed methods study investigated gifted high school students’ perception of the agency afforded them within school settings, and the relationship between these perceptions and their creative productivity. A sample of 140 students was drawn from a population of 966 identified gifted high school students. These students were contacted via their parents and asked to complete the Agentic Engagement Scale (AES) questionnaire which provided gifted high school students’ perceptions of the agency afforded at school. No significant differences in perceived agency were found across demographic variables, including socioeconomic status and school type. Of the respondents, 10 students were …

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A Systematic Review And Characterization Of Privacy Noncompliance In Real-World Applications, Alexander E. Charkiewicz Jan 2026

A Systematic Review And Characterization Of Privacy Noncompliance In Real-World Applications, Alexander E. Charkiewicz

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Software applications increasingly rely on user data to provide their functionality, but improper handling of such data can lead to serious privacy noncompliance with applicable regulations and policies. A prominent example is the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a third-party application collected the personal data of approximately 87 million Facebook users without users' consent. Despite growing attention to privacy compliance, two key challenges hinder the systematic understanding and analysis of privacy noncompliance. First, unlike security vulnerabilities, which have been systematically categorized through taxonomies such as the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), privacy noncompliance lacks a technical taxonomy describing how it manifests …

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Policy Into Practice: Exploring School Counselors' And School Psychologists' Knowledge And Sensemaking Towards The Application Of Alternative Gifted Identification Criteria For Lower Socioeconomic Students, Brittany E. Hague Jan 2026

Policy Into Practice: Exploring School Counselors' And School Psychologists' Knowledge And Sensemaking Towards The Application Of Alternative Gifted Identification Criteria For Lower Socioeconomic Students, Brittany E. Hague

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Persistent underrepresentation of students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds in Gifted education reflects long-standing structural inequities embedded in identification policies and practices. In response, many Florida school districts have adopted equity-oriented identification reforms, including universal screening, local norms, and multiple-measure approaches. However, policy equity does not automatically translate into equitable outcomes; rather, it is mediated through the interpretive work of school-based practitioners. Guided by Sensemaking Theory, this convergent mixed-methods study examines how school counselors and school psychologists construct meaning around alternative Gifted identification criteria and how their beliefs, professional judgment, and organizational contexts shape implementation. The study explores how …

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Passenger Pigeons, Dodos, Neanderthals, Jordan Alexander Jan 2026

Passenger Pigeons, Dodos, Neanderthals, Jordan Alexander

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Passenger Pigeons, Dodos, Neanderthals is a short story collection rooted in Afrofuturism and Southern literature. Passenger Pigeons centers the experiences of queer Black American women in various settings, from Mars to rural Florida. The title story of the collection follows Teri, a human on Mars, attempting to integrate into a society of Martians who exoticize and tokenize her. In this story, I use science fiction as a vehicle to confront the microaggressions and overt racism people of color often experience in professional environments. “Rather Be the Devil,” is a fabulist story detailing the character Man’s journey to find his missing …

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Un Lugar A Donde No Puedo Volver: Perteneciendo En La Distancia, Alberto J. Alonso Jan 2026

Un Lugar A Donde No Puedo Volver: Perteneciendo En La Distancia, Alberto J. Alonso

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

“A Place I Cannot Return To: Distance and Belonging” investigates how home is not limited to a fixed place, but instead a reconstruction sustained through memory and longing, which focuses on personal experiences of being away from Puerto Rico. I contribute to this broader dialogue by offering a deeply personal perspective shaped by the complexities of cultural belonging. Through photography, collage, and painting, my art practice reconstructs fragmented visual narratives of lived experience to explore homesickness, nostalgia, and displacement, examining how personal and shared histories become anchors to what continually slips away. Although I can physically return to Puerto Rico, …

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In The Walls, Taylor S. Arnold Jan 2026

In The Walls, Taylor S. Arnold

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

In the Walls is a collection of short and flash fiction that uses gothic and speculative elements to explore isolation, identity, gender roles, and experiences of women, including pressures of conformity and the persistent draw of the domestic. In “Poltergeist,” a scorned ghost discovers her supernatural abilities when her husband brings home a new woman. “Home For Sale,” an experimental story structured as a Zillow listing, contains the tale of a housewife’s psychological unravelling amid paranormal encounters in her family’s new home. The titular story, “In the Walls,” focuses on a woman who attempts to conform to a homemaker role …

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Experimental And Numerical Study On The Stability Limits Of Ammonia And Ammonia/Hydrogen Flames Inside A Toroidal Jet-Stirred Reactor, Guillermo Alberto Barrios Cadenas Jan 2026

Experimental And Numerical Study On The Stability Limits Of Ammonia And Ammonia/Hydrogen Flames Inside A Toroidal Jet-Stirred Reactor, Guillermo Alberto Barrios Cadenas

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Ammonia’s (NH3) properties as a carbon-free hydrogen carrier, its phase characteristics, and its wide global infrastructure present a solid case as a potential surrogate for carbon-based aviation fuels. Delivering a zero-emission NH3-based engine requires careful integration and optimization of the combustor and thermal management systems, a process that requires high-fidelity chemical reacting models experimentally validated through the use of simplified combustors. This study investigates NH3 fundamental combustion characteristics at conditions relevant to aviation gas turbines using a newly constructed toroidal jet-stirred reactor (TJSR) facility. Lean blow-off (LBO) experiments were carried out for NH3 blends …

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Reclaiming The Self: A Visual Narrative Of A Process Of Individuation Through Artistic Practice, Stacie Becker Jan 2026

Reclaiming The Self: A Visual Narrative Of A Process Of Individuation Through Artistic Practice, Stacie Becker

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Reclaiming the Self: A Visual Narrative of a Process of Individuation Through Artistic Practice features a multidisciplinary practice that uses visual narrative, metaphor, and symbolism to reconcile the complex intersections of internal and external identity-shaping experiences, informed by lived experience as a woman. Working across painting, mixed media, printmaking, book arts, sculpture, and restorative medical tattooing, the artist dissects the tension between internal identity and external expectations, addressing themes of gender roles, relationships, trauma, and agency. Various artistic methods serve not only as a process but also as a parallel for reclaiming, healing, and restoring an authentic, unashamed sense of …

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An Integrated Framework For Last-Mile Delivery Optimization Using Reinforcement Learning And Social Media-Based Traffic Prediction In Underdeveloped Megacities, Vasanth Bhat Jan 2026

An Integrated Framework For Last-Mile Delivery Optimization Using Reinforcement Learning And Social Media-Based Traffic Prediction In Underdeveloped Megacities, Vasanth Bhat

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Supply chain management has become increasingly critical as transportation costs rise and urban delivery systems place additional pressure on already congested networks. Last-mile delivery—the movement of goods from distribution centers to end users—represents the most expensive and operationally complex segment of the logistics process, particularly in underdeveloped megacities characterized by unpredictable traffic, limited infrastructure, and sparse real-time data. This dissertation proposes an integrated framework for optimizing last-mile delivery in such environments by combining social media–based traffic intelligence, machine learning, and deep reinforcement learning. The framework leverages unstructured, real-time data from social media platforms to enhance traffic prediction and incorporates these …

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Enhanced Atomization And Combustion In Subsonic Ljic Systems Using Ultrasonically Driven Solid Obstructions, Daniel Sebastian Cruz Jan 2026

Enhanced Atomization And Combustion In Subsonic Ljic Systems Using Ultrasonically Driven Solid Obstructions, Daniel Sebastian Cruz

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The liquid fueling methods used in aircraft propulsion have undergone extensive optimization, with Liquid Jets in Crossflow (LJIC) emerging as a simple yet effective injection scheme. LJIC enables sufficient fuel mass flow rates and penetration for high-speed operation, however fuel trajectory and droplet size remain highly sensitive to crossflow conditions. As a result, wide flight envelopes introduce variability in atomization, leading to unsteady combustion performance. Recent work has incorporated a pintile, a solid obstruction placed in the path of the fuel jet, to redistribute momentum and reduce trajectory variability across varying flow conditions. While this approach improves trajectory uniformity, it …

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Mathematical Modeling And Characterization Of A Variable Stiffness Ankle-Foot-Orthosis, David E.L. Richards Jan 2026

Mathematical Modeling And Characterization Of A Variable Stiffness Ankle-Foot-Orthosis, David E.L. Richards

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Conventional ankle–foot orthoses (AFOs) typically employ static stiffness profiles that do not replicate the dynamic quasi-stiffness of the human ankle during gait. Variable stiffness mechanisms (VSMs) offer a promising alternative solution for gait pathologies, such as foot drop and post-stroke hemiparesis; however, their implementation is limited by the lack of accurate mathematical models capable of predicting force and stiffness characteristics. The objective of this thesis is to develop and validate comprehensive mathematical models describing the kinematics and kinetics of a novel variable stiffness ankle–foot orthosis (VS-AFO). This study derives governing equations to characterize how mechanical adjustments influence the force transmission …

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The Odyssey Of Emotion Regulation In Extremis: How Challenges Lead To Team States Through Regulation And Psychological Safety In Ice, Andres Kaosaar Jan 2026

The Odyssey Of Emotion Regulation In Extremis: How Challenges Lead To Team States Through Regulation And Psychological Safety In Ice, Andres Kaosaar

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) teams experience challenges that require continuous emotional adaptation. Although emotion regulation (ER) has been recognized as critical for functioning in these contexts, little is known about how specific challenges shape regulatory responses, how team climate influences those responses, and how individual regulation accumulates into team-level outcomes. This dissertation develops and tests a multilevel framework linking challenge exposure, perceived psychological safety, individual ER, team emotions, and team viability in space analog environments. Data were collected from 36 crews (N = 184) participating in two-week missions at two space analog stations, yielding 2,577 daily observations and …

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Sustaining High-Quality Service-Learning In Research Intensive Universities: A Qualitative Study Of Instructor Perspectives, Marika Koch Jan 2026

Sustaining High-Quality Service-Learning In Research Intensive Universities: A Qualitative Study Of Instructor Perspectives, Marika Koch

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

In a world that often feels disconnected due to our sociopolitical climate, there is a need to create socially aware and civically engaged adults. Service-learning integrated into higher education courses can do that and more. Research indicates that both students and the community benefit significantly when students participate in effective service-learning classes. Students who take service-learning courses in college tend to exhibit higher academic achievement, enhanced social and emotional skills, and greater long-term civic engagement. Effective service-learning courses share three common elements: they foster a strong connection to course objectives, promote reciprocity for all involved, and encourage active student reflection. …

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Evaluating Novel Targeted Combination Therapies For Gastrointestinal Cancers, Joseph A. Goode Jan 2026

Evaluating Novel Targeted Combination Therapies For Gastrointestinal Cancers, Joseph A. Goode

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers remain among the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with therapeutic resistance continuing to limit the effectiveness of current treatments. Three complementary studies were conducted to identify therapeutic vulnerabilities and evaluate novel combination strategies in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and colorectal cancer (CRC).  First, dual inhibition of fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling was investigated in PDAC models. A combination of targeted drug treatments reduced viability, clonogenic survival, migration, and suppressed signaling pathways involved in translational control. This supported a functional interaction between FGFR4 and PI3K-mTOR co-activation in …

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Non-Gaussian Phenomena In Light Scattering And Applications, Shubham Atul Dawda Jan 2026

Non-Gaussian Phenomena In Light Scattering And Applications, Shubham Atul Dawda

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Physical reality is rarely deterministic; which, when probed by electromagnetic fields that also fluctuate, leads to observables that are most efficiently modelled as statistical processes. At equilibrium, this is usually achieved by invoking the Gaussian statistics of underlying physical processes, however, in practice, one often encounters out-of-equilibrium conditions where Gaussian descriptions may not suffice. Such situations are plentiful in nature– from biology to astronomy. This dissertation addresses several non-Gaussian phenomena associated with light scattering, and includes specific models’ derivations, experimental techniques developments, and demonstrations of potential applications. The systematic presentation will consider circumstances that infringe upon specific assumptions of the …

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High School Teachers' Perceptions And Experiences Of Legislative Changes: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Marie Lewis Jan 2026

High School Teachers' Perceptions And Experiences Of Legislative Changes: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Marie Lewis

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis was to explore the perceptions and experiences of high school English Language Arts teachers in one public school district in the state of Florida as they navigated educational legislation that has been implemented over the last five years. The study interviewed ten experienced high school ELA teachers who had taught for more than five years in Florida’s public school system. One semi-structured interview was conducted along with brief follow-ups to share thematic statements with the participants. This study also included a document analysis of HB 1467 and HB 1069 as well as the …

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Communication College Students And Their Career Readiness: An Evaluation From The Employer's Perspective, Carson Mann Jan 2026

Communication College Students And Their Career Readiness: An Evaluation From The Employer's Perspective, Carson Mann

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Higher education institutions are seen as places that educate students in specific subjects and provide training that leads to either a career or further learning opportunities. Unfortunately, public trust in higher education has plummeted since 2015. The evolution of higher education has been the subject of speculation by various groups, but developing translational skills through effective internships could very well solve the issue at hand. Institutions ought to have data -driven evidence about their disciplines’ effectiveness and their translational ability to the workforce. To understand this, student career readiness must be evaluated. Students' career readiness is a vital measure of …

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Generating Boundary Conditions For Compound Flood Modeling In A Probabilistic Framework, Pravin Maduwantha Mahanthe Gamage Jan 2026

Generating Boundary Conditions For Compound Flood Modeling In A Probabilistic Framework, Pravin Maduwantha Mahanthe Gamage

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Flooding in coastal riverine environments is often driven by the combined influence of multiple hydrometeorological flood drivers, including storm surge, rainfall, waves, and river discharge, which is referred to as compound flooding. A robust flood hazard assessment requires simulation of a wide range of flood driver conditions through dynamic compound flood models to capture the variability in resultant flooding. However, such assessments remain limited by the short length of observational records and the high computational cost of physics-based methods used to generate temporally varying boundary conditions. This dissertation develops a statistical framework to characterize compound flood drivers and generate large …

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Comics In The Classroom: Social Science Teachers' Lived Experiences With Comic Art In Instruction, Robert W. Mcintosh Jan 2026

Comics In The Classroom: Social Science Teachers' Lived Experiences With Comic Art In Instruction, Robert W. Mcintosh

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored secondary social science teachers’ lived experiences with comic art in classroom instruction. Existing research suggests that comic art, including comic books and graphic novels, can support student engagement, content understanding, visual literacy, and critical thinking; however, less is known about how teachers experience and make decisions about using comic art in social science education. Framed by Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Social Cognitive Theory, the study treated comic art as a representational instructional technology and examined how teacher confidence and the context of their experience shaped its use. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews …

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Hunter. Hunted. Human: Warfighters' Emotional Responses To Weapons In Tactical & Strategic Context, Simon Mace Jan 2026

Hunter. Hunted. Human: Warfighters' Emotional Responses To Weapons In Tactical & Strategic Context, Simon Mace

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Human emotional responses to weapons have long been assumed to be relatively parsimonious, comprised predominately of aggression, anxiety, and fear responses. However, most research on this weapons effect has focused on civilians – who are notably more likely to be targeted by than to employ weapons. So, there is reason to speculate that emotional responses to weapons vary more than previously believed. This is significant for three reasons. First, positive emotional responses generate more desirable combat behaviors, specifically the willingness to engage adversaries. Second, negative emotional responses catalyze an unpredictable range of behaviors, many of which are tactically and operationally …

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