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Family Mass Homicide: An Investigation, Alec Szalewski Jan 2020

Family Mass Homicide: An Investigation, Alec Szalewski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Operationalizing mass murder consistently has yet to be achieved. Mass homicide definitions often use time and space, but other key factors (e.g., victim count) vary widely across literature and agencies. Because of this, the current study argues for a mass family homicide definition of two or more victims, not including the offender, with no method of killing requirement. The purpose of using this victim count derives from the average family size and how many victims can be killed before an entire family annihilation. Next, using the suggested definition, three exploratory logistic regression models were run to further the understanding and …

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Molecular And Phenotypic Diversification Of A Cryptic Group Of Terrestrial Frogs From The Southern Andes Of Ecuador, Veronica Urgiles Penafiel Jan 2020

Molecular And Phenotypic Diversification Of A Cryptic Group Of Terrestrial Frogs From The Southern Andes Of Ecuador, Veronica Urgiles Penafiel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The Ecuadorean Andes sustains one of the most remarkable frog diversifications. In this region, nearly one in three known species of amphibians belong to the Pristimantis genus, which contains the majority of the direct-developing terrestrial frog species. Although efforts are ongoing to understand the diversity of Pristimantis, large regions of the ecosystems they occupy remain understudied, and speciation and diversity of this genus remains poorly understood. Within this context, an interesting taxon with many unresolved questions regarding patterns and process of diversification is the Pristimantis orestes species complex which is distributed across the Paramo landscape and montane forests in the …

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Integrating Graphene Into Polymer Derived Ceramics Towards The Development Of New Thermoelectric Materials, Elizabeth Barrios Jan 2020

Integrating Graphene Into Polymer Derived Ceramics Towards The Development Of New Thermoelectric Materials, Elizabeth Barrios

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) have been an enabling technology for the exploration of deep space since the dawn of the Space Age. Since its first deployment in a meteorological satellite in the late 1960's, RTGs have been used to provide solid-state, maintenance-free power to 27 American spacecraft and scientific instruments. While showing great success in the past, the future usage of thermoelectric devices is limited by the low operating efficiencies and the use of hazardous or expensive materials, limiting the use of thermoelectric technologies to niche applications such as space exploration. Current research efforts that address these disadvantages have focused …

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The Mediating Role Of Leader-Member Exchange: Leader Personality And Information Sharing, Hillary Chandler Jan 2020

The Mediating Role Of Leader-Member Exchange: Leader Personality And Information Sharing, Hillary Chandler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated the mechanisms that facilitate information sharing, specifically, how leader personality may affect leader-employee relationship quality and employee information sharing behavior. Those who share information with their leaders and coworkers contribute more to their team and improve performance on an individual, team, and organizational level (Wang & Noe, 2010). This research examines the relationships between leader personality, employee perceived leader-member exchange quality, and employee information sharing. Responses (n = 81) from undergraduate students who work at least 20 hours a week were used in study analyses. Surveys used to collect data for this study covered employee perception of …

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Social Connectedness And College Student Alcohol Use: Understanding The Role Of Alcohol Expectancies, Social Anxiety, And Need To Belong, Mark Crisafulli Jan 2020

Social Connectedness And College Student Alcohol Use: Understanding The Role Of Alcohol Expectancies, Social Anxiety, And Need To Belong, Mark Crisafulli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Despite recent decreases in college alcohol use, alcohol related harms continue to occur at high rates and currently available interventions do not work as well as previously thought. Research has found sociability expectancies to be particularly important in predicting risky alcohol use, and expectancy challenge programs that target these expectancies can be effective in reducing heavy drinking. Little is known, however, about how other social variables might contribute to the influence of expectancies in promoting alcohol use. The current study used structural equation modeling to test models of alcohol use examining how need to belong and social connectedness fit into …

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Distributed Algorithms And Inverse Graph Filtering, Nazar Emirov Jan 2020

Distributed Algorithms And Inverse Graph Filtering, Nazar Emirov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Graph signal processing provides an innovative framework to handle data residing on distributed networks, smart grids, neural networks, social networks and many other irregular domains. By leveraging applied harmonic analysis and graph spectral theory, graph signal processing has been extensively exploited, and many important concepts in classical signal processing have been extended to the graph setting such as graph Fourier transform, graph wavelets and graph filter banks. Similarly, many optimization problems in machine learning, sensor networks, power systems, control theory and signal processing can be modeled using underlying network structure. In modern applications, the size of a network is large, …

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Experimental Investigation Of The Laminar Burning Velocities Of High-Performance Co-Optima Biofuels, Gihun Kim Jan 2020

Experimental Investigation Of The Laminar Burning Velocities Of High-Performance Co-Optima Biofuels, Gihun Kim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative of the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) started research on biofuel and biodiesel to replace the gasoline (petrol) and diesel for over the road internal combustion engines. From an initial list of thousands of fuels, selected bio-fuels and biodiesels were investigated for further combustion studies following the implementation of screening, which consisted of biodegrading, toxicity, flash point, research octane number, motor octane numbers, cetane number, and economic effect, etc. Experimental measurements of laminar burning velocity (LBV) are key parameters to understand fuel performance and applicability in engines. Furthermore, knowledge of LBV is required …

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Transcendence, William Rincon Jan 2020

Transcendence, William Rincon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Transcendence is a novel that examines masculinity and self-acceptance in the modern era: How do we move on from wrongs done by others and our own mistakes? A coming-of-age novel, Transcendence follows Cassiel, a young man in his mid-twenties, as he searches for his absent father and finds himself in a monastery where monks have strange abilities. He decides to learn meditation and find the source of his unhappiness through trials that test his discipline and faults. With the promise of enlightenment and learning what happened to his long-lost father, Cassiel completes each trial and comes closer to finding the …

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Few-Mode Fiber Lasers And Amplifiers, Ning Wang Jan 2020

Few-Mode Fiber Lasers And Amplifiers, Ning Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Lasers and amplifiers of high-order spatial modes are useful for a number of applications, including communication, sensing, microscopy, and laser material processing. This dissertation presents the generation and amplification of high-order spatial modes in few-mode fibers (FMFs). In the area of amplification of high-order spatial modes, low-crosstalk amplification among spatial modes is realized in a retro-reflecting few-mode Er-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) by exploiting the unitary property of the coupling matrix of a symmetric photonic lantern (PL). A small-signal gain larger than 25 dB and crosstalk below -10 dB was achieved over the C-band for a 3-mode EDFA. Such a few-mode …

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Water Reclamation Using Functionalized Forward Osmosis Membrane, Fnu Joshua Jan 2020

Water Reclamation Using Functionalized Forward Osmosis Membrane, Fnu Joshua

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated water reclamation from an impaired-quality water using forward osmosis (FO) membrane functionalized by nano zero valent iron (nZVI) loaded polyelectrolyte multilayer films. Stormwater runoff was selected as the impaired-quality water, which served as a feed solution (FS) and a NaCl salt solution at a concentration representing reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate was used a draw solution (DS). RO concentrate is another impaired-quality water that is discharged to the environmental with little or no treatment. A commercial cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane was modified using poly allylamine hydrochloride (PAH) (a polycation) and poly acrylic acid (PAA) (a polyanion) following …

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Does One Bad Phish Spoil The Whole Email Load?: Exploring Phishing Susceptibility Task Factors And Potential Interventions, Dawn Sarno Jan 2020

Does One Bad Phish Spoil The Whole Email Load?: Exploring Phishing Susceptibility Task Factors And Potential Interventions, Dawn Sarno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Phishing emails have become a prevalent cybersecurity threat for the modern email user. Research attempting to understand how users are susceptible to phishing attacks has been limited and hasn't fully explored how task factors influence accurate detection. Even further lacking are the existing training interventions that still have users falling victim to up to 90% of phishing emails following training. The present studies examined how task factors (e.g., email load, phishing prevalence) and a new form of intervention, rather than training, influence email performance. In four experiments, participants classified emails as either legitimate or not legitimate and reported on a …

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Tuning Dynamics, Sterics, And Ion Conductivities In Reticular Materials, Demetrius Vazquez-Molina Jan 2020

Tuning Dynamics, Sterics, And Ion Conductivities In Reticular Materials, Demetrius Vazquez-Molina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The goal of this thesis is to synthesize libraries of organic building blocks with systematic functionalizations for tuning dynamics and steric traits in crystalline frameworks. Chapter 1 will introduce the materials being studied, their targeted applications, and a brief outline of each chapter will also be included. Chapters 2 explores the impact of mechanical processing in Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) from the point of view of crystallographic effects and pressure induced preferred orientation. This chapter also studies solid-state ionic conduction for Li ions in crystallographically aligned COFs studied by solid-state NMR and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), we observed fast ionic …

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Working Memory In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Investigation Of Short-Term And Central Executive Memory Components Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Samuel Eckrich Jan 2020

Working Memory In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Investigation Of Short-Term And Central Executive Memory Components Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Samuel Eckrich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is an early onset, highly heritable, chronic neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by underdeveloped/deficient executive functions, particularly those entailing working memory (WM). Substantial research exists documenting WM deficits in pediatric age range ADHD and their relation with adverse learning outcomes; however, relatively little is known concerning the extent to which deficient WM processes reflect underlying deficiencies in hemodynamic functioning (OxyHb). This is the first study to use a movement-tolerant neuroimaging tool—functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)—to investigate hypothesized prefrontalOxyHb differences between children with ADHD and typically developing (TD) children while they complete memory tasks differing in cognitive processing demands (e.g., …

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Nurse-Physician Collaboration During Bedside Rounding: What Is The Impact On The Nurse?, Martha Decesere Jan 2020

Nurse-Physician Collaboration During Bedside Rounding: What Is The Impact On The Nurse?, Martha Decesere

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Poor communication is identified as the root cause for the majority of sentinel events in hospitals, including wrong site surgery, medication errors, and failure to rescue. Interdisciplinary rounding (IDR), a long-standing practice in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), provides a forum for communication and collaboration and has been linked to improved patient outcomes. Most of the research regarding IDR has been performed in the ICU setting within academic medical centers. IDR outside of the ICU has demonstrated similar clinical outcomes but a gap exists in the literature regarding the impact of IDR participation on the nurse, particularly for nurses working …

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Development Of 3d Porous Chitosan-Based Platform For In Vitro Culture, Kailei Xu Jan 2020

Development Of 3d Porous Chitosan-Based Platform For In Vitro Culture, Kailei Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Three-dimensional (3D) cell cultures have been widely used in biological research since two-dimensional (2D) cultures have many limitations including alteration of cell morphology, metabolic pathways and gene expression. Therefore, the application of 2D cell cultures in pharmaceutical companies for drug screening causes reproducibility issues in animal studies, which strongly influences the efficiency of drug development. The aim of my studies is to develop 3D cell culture models to better mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) in tumor microenvironment, not only for deeper understanding of interaction between cells and ECM, but also for the application in drug screening. Three different compositions of …

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Pfsa Newsletter, Volume 04, Happy New Year!!, January 2020, Pfsa Jan 2020

Pfsa Newsletter, Volume 04, Happy New Year!!, January 2020, Pfsa

Newsletters

Happy 2020 and welcome back to UCF. This semester we are committed to continuing partnerships, organizing community events and meaningful programs, as well as, helping to create action related to LGBTQ+ community needs at UCF. Within the next few months, we will be meeting as a membership to look toward the spring semester. I hope you had a restful break and that you found ways to re-energize for all that is to come.

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Removal Of Chemicals Of Emerging Concern And Mass Transfer Modeling In A Nanofiltration Membrane Process, Carlyn Higgins Jan 2020

Removal Of Chemicals Of Emerging Concern And Mass Transfer Modeling In A Nanofiltration Membrane Process, Carlyn Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

An investigation of 1,4-dioxane and enantiomeric ibuprofen mass transfer in a nanofiltration (NF) membrane process has been completed. Pilot-scale experiments using a 267 gallon per minute (gpm) split-feed, center-port NF process treating pH 6.5 groundwater revealed a consistent 12 percent removal of 1,4-dioxane despite the variable feed concentration (180 nanograms per liter (ng/L) to 38,400 ng/L) when the water flux and temperature were held constant. Bench-scale, flat-sheet NF membrane experiments treating pH 4.0 synthetic water displayed a 34.5 to 49.5 percent removal of racemic ibuprofen. Removal values were dependent on feedwater concentration (1 to 1,500 microgram per liter (µg/L)), pH, …

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Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Pre-Algebra 1 Mini-Camp Summer Intervention Program For Rising Seventh-Grade Algebra 1 Honors Students, Deanna Haught Jan 2020

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Pre-Algebra 1 Mini-Camp Summer Intervention Program For Rising Seventh-Grade Algebra 1 Honors Students, Deanna Haught

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a summer intervention program for middle school Algebra 1 Honors students. The intervention program, Pre-Algebra 1 Mini-Camp, was offered for rising seventh grade students at a middle school prior to them entering Algebra 1 in the Fall semester. The literature review and analysis of data from school districts in Central Florida showed that the increase in middle grade students enrollment in Algebra 1 has coincided with a decrease in the passing rate among those students on the Florida Algebra 1 End of Course exam and the course. The intervention program and this study were …

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A Case Study Of The Impact Of The Dplc Model Of Professional Learning On Collective Teacher Efficacy And Organizational Trust In A Middle School, Maria Gaspar Jan 2020

A Case Study Of The Impact Of The Dplc Model Of Professional Learning On Collective Teacher Efficacy And Organizational Trust In A Middle School, Maria Gaspar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this case study was to investigate the relationship between the implementation of the District Professional Learning Community (DPLC) model of professional development and collective teacher efficacy and organizational trust at one middle school in a large urban school district. Data were collected from the following sources: Goddard & Hoy's (2003) CE Scale Form L, Hoy & Tschannen-Moran's (2003) Omnibus-T scale, six additional survey items used to explore teachers' perceptions of the DPLC model's influence on improving student literacy, and semi-structured focus group interviews. A series of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests were performed to analyze …

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Using High Impact Practice Characteristics And Career Readiness Competencies To Examine A College Work Experience Program, Veena Garib Jan 2020

Using High Impact Practice Characteristics And Career Readiness Competencies To Examine A College Work Experience Program, Veena Garib

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Utilizing a quantitative approach, the researcher examined the extent to which undergraduate students participating in a college work experience program agreed with statements relating their experience in the program to the characteristics of high impact practices and the career readiness competencies. Additionally, the researcher determined which characteristics of high impact practices were statistically related to each career readiness competency. The characteristics of high impact practices are: high performance expectations, investment of time and effort, interactions with faculty and peers, experiences with diversity, receipt of constructive feedback, opportunities for reflection and integration of learning, real-world applications, and demonstration of competencies. The …

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Womanfest2020 - Bookmark, Megan M. Haught Jan 2020

Womanfest2020 - Bookmark, Megan M. Haught

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

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Seismocardiographic Signal Variability And Pulmonary Phase Detection In Adults, Md Khurshidul Azad Jan 2020

Seismocardiographic Signal Variability And Pulmonary Phase Detection In Adults, Md Khurshidul Azad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. Early detection and intervention can significantly improve disease management and patient quality of life. Current methods of evaluating cardiac function often involve history and physical examination (including stethoscope auscultation), electrocardiograms (ECG), echocardiogram imaging, computed tomography, and various blood tests. Seismocardiographic signals (SCG) are the chest surface vibrations resulting from cardiomechanical activity. SCG may be recorded using accelerometers and can be used for monitoring and predicting cardiac health. SCG's potential utility may be impeded by its spatial, postural, respiratory, and longitudinal variability. In this dissertation, the SCG variability …

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Understanding And Predicting Properties Of Low-Dimensional Functional Materials From First-Principles, Naseem Ud Din Jan 2020

Understanding And Predicting Properties Of Low-Dimensional Functional Materials From First-Principles, Naseem Ud Din

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A periodic network with uniform single metal active site, in coordination with redox-active organic ligands, is a promising class of materials for next generation single atom catalysts. Towards this quest, in this dissertation I have carried out first-principles density functional theory (DFT) based calculations of the geometrical and electronic structure and magnetic properties of several transition-metal-organic-chains (TM-C) both in gas phase as well as on Au(111) surface. Of particular interest are dipyridyltetrazine (DT), Bis-pyrimidine (BP), and 1,10-phenanthroline5,6-dione, (PDO) ligands used to design the TM-C with several single TM atoms as the coordination center. I have screened several TM atoms to …

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Symmetry And High Harmonic Spectroscopy In Solids, Shima Gholam Mirzaeimoghadar Jan 2020

Symmetry And High Harmonic Spectroscopy In Solids, Shima Gholam Mirzaeimoghadar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

High harmonic generation (HHG) by intense femtosecond laser pulses has, over the last three decades, provided new coherent sources of extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray light and enabled the field of attosecond science. Furthermore, as properties of the target are encoded in the harmonic emission, high harmonic spectroscopy has allowed extraction of molecular structure and dynamics from the spectra and polarization states of harmonics generated from gas-phase molecules. HHG from solids, discovered in 2011, now promises to offer similar benefits to condensed matter physics. In this dissertation, I describe progress on two fronts: extending attosecond techniques to generate new high …

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Novel Roles Of Rip2 In Inflammation And Resolution, Michael Shehat Jan 2020

Novel Roles Of Rip2 In Inflammation And Resolution, Michael Shehat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Receptor-interacting protein 2 (RIP2) is a kinase which mediates signaling downstream of the bacterial peptidoglycan sensors Nucleotide-binding Oligomerization Domain (NOD) 1 and 2. Genetic loss or pharmaceutical inhibition of RIP2 has been shown to be beneficial in multiple inflammatory disease models with the effects largely attributed to reducing pro-inflammatory signaling downstream of peptidoglycan recognition. However, given the widespread expression of this kinase and its reported interactions with numerous other proteins, it is possible that RIP2 has many other unappreciated roles. In this work, we report the involvement of RIP2 in two novel pathways. First, we demonstrate a NOD2 dependent role …

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Improving Air Pollution Exposure Estimation Using Cell Phone Location Data And Low-Cost Sensors, Xiaonan Yu Jan 2020

Improving Air Pollution Exposure Estimation Using Cell Phone Location Data And Low-Cost Sensors, Xiaonan Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Human exposure estimation to air pollution plays an important role in epidemiological studies which are designed to reveal correlations between human exposures to certain air pollutants and certain diseases, such as asthma, cardiovascular disease and reproductive diseases. Traditionally, when people's mobile data is hard to get, home location is used to estimate people's exposures assuming that people stay at home all the time. Whereas, people move and it is more accurate to estimate people's exposures including people's mobility. In our study, we showcased two methods to obtain people's mobile data: Google Maps location history (GMLH) data and Call Detailed Record …

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Metatheatre And Critical Race Theory: A Combination For Compelling Storytelling And Effective Changemaking, Andrew Coleburn Jan 2020

Metatheatre And Critical Race Theory: A Combination For Compelling Storytelling And Effective Changemaking, Andrew Coleburn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Vaclav Havel once said that "[t]heatre is always a sensitive seismograph of an era, perhaps the most sensitive one there is; it's a sponge that quickly soaks up important ingredients in the atmosphere around it." One of the more important "ingredients" in our cultural atmosphere in modern America is the issue of identity. In his book on metatheatre, Richard Hornby posits that theatre is "a kind of identity laboratory, in which social roles can be examined vicariously." In this thesis, I examine Hornby's theory of the five different modes of metatheatre, critique each, and argue for the addition of a …

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Adaptation Of The Novel "Silas Marner" Into A One-Act Play And Performance, Melaney Douglass Jan 2020

Adaptation Of The Novel "Silas Marner" Into A One-Act Play And Performance, Melaney Douglass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

As a teacher of high school theatre, I aspire to create powerful and thought-provoking theatre with my students. For my thesis, I adapted George Eliot's classic novel Silas Marner into a one-act play. I researched the novel and the necessary aspects of writing a one-act play. I explored the overriding themes in the novel. I researched and applied the techniques, skills and literary mechanics necessary to construct a one-act play. I recorded the creative process with my students as we, the director and actors, produced this original one-act for public performances. I reflected on this thesis journey and objectively critiqued …

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Strategic Planning At The Local Level Of Government: Evidence From Florida, Faisal Mohamidi Jan 2020

Strategic Planning At The Local Level Of Government: Evidence From Florida, Faisal Mohamidi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study's main question is as follows: What are the effects of internal and external environmental factors on public value expressions found within Florida county and municipal governments' strategic plans? This study uses Moore's (1995) Public Value Theory and its main propositions, as Dong (2015) described. This study also adheres to the tradition established by DiMaggio and Powell (1983) by focusing on homogeneity, not variation, between strategic plans under study. Data for this dissertation were obtained from 77 official strategic plans of Floridian counties and municipalities. Furthermore, the dissertation proceeded in two distinctive phases. The first phase relied on content …

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Characterization Of Contact Resistance Properties Of Different Tlm Structure Designs, Nicole A. Karam Pannaci Jan 2020

Characterization Of Contact Resistance Properties Of Different Tlm Structure Designs, Nicole A. Karam Pannaci

Digital Repository: Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence

No abstract provided.

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