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Index-Based Approach With Remote Sensing For The Assessment Of Extreme Weather Impact On Watershed Vegetation Dynamics, Kushan Bellanthudawage Jan 2021

Index-Based Approach With Remote Sensing For The Assessment Of Extreme Weather Impact On Watershed Vegetation Dynamics, Kushan Bellanthudawage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Spatial technologies such as satellite remote sensing can be used to identify vegetation dynamics over space and time, which play a critical role in earth observations. Biophysical and biochemical features associated with vegetation cover can then be used to elucidate climate change impact such as floods and droughts on ecosystem that may in turn affect watershed-scale water resources management. Unlike single flood or drought event, intermittent extreme weather events may exert more physiological and biological pressures on the canopy vegetation. This study aims to investigate the climate change impacts on canopy vegetation, which occurred from March 2017 to October 2017 …

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Performance Enhancement Of Rf/Microwave Devices Using Filter Synthesis Techniques, Ricardo Lovato Jan 2021

Performance Enhancement Of Rf/Microwave Devices Using Filter Synthesis Techniques, Ricardo Lovato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This dissertation shows that filter synthesis techniques can be used to design and enhance the performance of several discrete components of the RF front-end. Throughout this work, a block diagram of a typical receiver is used to illustrate each component separately. Four main areas are covered: (1) filter/antenna integration, (2) frequency-tunable filter/antenna integration with control of the bandwidth characteristics, (3) antenna arrays designed based on integrated cavity resonators, and (4) novel low-loss phase shifters using band-pass and band-stop filters. The filter/antenna designed using two cavity resonators with a slot antenna in the second cavity. The slot antenna excites two modes …

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Corrective Feedback In L2 Pronunciation: The Learner Lens, Elif Saribas Jan 2021

Corrective Feedback In L2 Pronunciation: The Learner Lens, Elif Saribas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated learner perceptions of correction in L2 (second language) pronunciation. Research indicates that L2 learners have a strong preference toward corrective feedback provided by the teacher and also favor peer feedback (Kaivanpanah et al., 2012). In addition, external feedback is shown to contribute to the development of internal feedback, or self-correction (Huang & Jia, 2016). Learners were also found to carry positive opinions towards explicit error correction, with culture and proficiency level influencing those opinions (Yang, 2016). The current study used a qualitative approach to investigate learner perceptions toward correction in L2 pronunciation and examine real-life correction instances …

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Mutilated Masculinity: Intersections Of Disability, Gender, And Mental Health In Modernist Fiction, Sara Thames Jan 2021

Mutilated Masculinity: Intersections Of Disability, Gender, And Mental Health In Modernist Fiction, Sara Thames

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis investigates the impact of the intersection of physical disabilities and mental health conditions on the masculine identities presented in modernist texts. Here, I analyze a collection of works by Ernest Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, Claude McKay, and Wilfred Owen. Utilizing a combination of theoretical approaches: trauma theory, gender and sexuality studies, narratology, disability studies, and insights from the medical humanities, I revisit well-known novels like The Sun Also Rises and Lady Chatterley's Lover and illuminate lesser-studied works like "A Natural History of the Dead" and the recently published Romance in Marseille. I recognize here the psychosocial struggles faced by …

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A Drosophila P5b-Type Atpase Is Required For Polyamine Transport, David Brown Jan 2021

A Drosophila P5b-Type Atpase Is Required For Polyamine Transport, David Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In eukaryotes P-type ATPases are represented by a superfamily of membrane ion and lipid transporters divided into five subclasses. Substrates for classes 1-4 have been identified, however little is known about the substrate specificity of the P-type 5A and 5B transporters. Here we show that the Drosophila gene anne boleyn encodes a family of six P5B-type ATPases. Using a combination of RNAi, insertional mutagenesis, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing we show that some of these isoforms are required for polyamine transport and others are not. In addition, we show that the Drosophila P5A-type ATPase, encoded by CG6230 is not required for …

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Utility Of Novel Rotational Load-Velocity Profiling Methods In Collegiate Softball Players, Chad Herring Jan 2021

Utility Of Novel Rotational Load-Velocity Profiling Methods In Collegiate Softball Players, Chad Herring

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purposes of this study were to determine the reliability of the bat swing (BS) and rotational medicine ball throw (RMBT) load-velocity profiling (LVP) methods and the relationships between LVP variables and batting performance in NCAA Division I softball players. Current NCAA Division I softball athletes participated in this study. Bat velocity was tracked with a swing sensor during the BS method. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) tracked forearm velocity during the BS and RMBT methods. Two-way intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used for relative reliability and coefficient of variation (CV) was used for absolute reliability. For the BS method …

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Bacterial Association Networks From Healthy And Cancer-Associated Gut Microbiomes, Mark Loftus Jan 2021

Bacterial Association Networks From Healthy And Cancer-Associated Gut Microbiomes, Mark Loftus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The human gastrointestinal tract is colonized by a diverse community of symbiotic microorganisms, mainly bacteria, that are known to play essential roles in maintaining the health of their human host. Disruption of this bacterial community has been associated with numerous diseases, including Colorectal Cancer (CRC). CRC is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. As such, focus has been placed on the modulation of the bacterial community within the cancer-associated gut microbiome as the next step in possible CRC treatment and prevention strategies. To use the bacterial community for these purposes, a better understanding of the associations that …

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Identifying The Links Between Mental Frameworks, Context Features, And Driver Attention In Complete Streets Environments, Patricia Tice Jan 2021

Identifying The Links Between Mental Frameworks, Context Features, And Driver Attention In Complete Streets Environments, Patricia Tice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Complete street systems integrate a wide range of users in the same space, with unequal risks and responsibilities. This makes driver attention a critical factor in assuring the safety of vulnerable users. The Conditioned Anticipation of People psychological model of driver attention proposes that drivers reflexively reengage their metacognitive processes when they anticipate visually interacting with the human face or form due to the neurological priority that the brain places on human recognition. To test this model, an eye-tracking tabulation was generated from the SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study that measured midsegment percent of time on-task and multitasking behavior for 200 …

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Studies On Powder Compaction And Wire Extrusion Of Pure Metals And Metal/Cnt Nano Composites, Qiang Zhou Jan 2021

Studies On Powder Compaction And Wire Extrusion Of Pure Metals And Metal/Cnt Nano Composites, Qiang Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The goal of this dissertation is to fabricate wires made of Cu/CNT and Al/CNT composites with good mechanical strength and super thermal/electrical conductivities using powder compaction and wire extrusion manufacturing processes. Powder compaction was studied using both test and simulation. Cold compaction, hot compaction and vibration assisted (cold) compaction tests were conducted to achieve different density ratios. Hot compaction tests improved about 6% compared with cold compaction under the same compression pressure. Although the relative density ratio does not obviously improve at vibration assisted (cold) compaction, the strength of the specimens made under vibration loading is much better than those …

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Competence Transcriptome Changes In Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Smitha Shambhu Jan 2021

Competence Transcriptome Changes In Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Smitha Shambhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a human commensal and the causative agent of pneumococcal disease. Pneumococci are naturally competent – able to uptake exogenous DNA from the environment and incorporate it into their genome through homologous and non-homologous recombination. Recombination has significantly shaped the evolutionary history of S. pneumoniae, as it allows pneumococci to rapidly adapt to interventions such as antibiotic therapy or vaccine introduction. Recombination frequencies vary considerably across pneumococcal populations; yet the underlying mechanisms for these variations are not well understood. Entry and exit into competence, a state in which the cell can uptake DNA, is tightly regulated through transcriptional …

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Distributed Service Restoration In Active Distribution Networks, Nejad Reza Roofegari Jan 2021

Distributed Service Restoration In Active Distribution Networks, Nejad Reza Roofegari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Despite tremendous efforts on increasing power system reliability, outages and blackouts are inevitable. These losses can be greatly reduced by fast and reliable restoration mechanisms. Largescale distribution networks and increasing penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs) make restoration one of the most challenging problems in power systems. The prevailing centralized restoration scheme is costly, limited by information privacy of entities, unreliable due to dependence on central units, and might suffer from single-point failures. In this dissertation, a fully distributed restoration framework based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is proposed to address these challenges. Accordingly, the restoration problem …

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Towards Enabling Explanation In Safety-Critical Artificial Intelligence Systems, Andy Michel Jan 2021

Towards Enabling Explanation In Safety-Critical Artificial Intelligence Systems, Andy Michel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

With the advancement of accelerated hardware in recent years, there has been a surge in the development and application of intelligent systems. Deep learning systems, in particular, have shown exciting results in a wide range of tasks: classification, detection, and recognition. Despite these remarkable achievements, there remains an active research area that aims to increase the robustness of those systems in critical domains. Deep learning algorithms have proven to be brittle against adversarial attacks. That is, carefully crafted adversarial inputs can consistently trigger an erroneous prediction from a network model. Hence the motivation of this dissertation, we study prominent adversarial …

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An Evaporation Based Micro-Synthetic Jet In Microchannel And Its Applications, Ehsan Sourtiji Jan 2021

An Evaporation Based Micro-Synthetic Jet In Microchannel And Its Applications, Ehsan Sourtiji

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

An approach to create synthetic jets at micro-scales using periodic bubble growth and collapse was presented and studied over a range of operating frequencies (0.1 to 2.5 Hz) and heating powers (3 to 4.5 Watt). The microfluidic device uses an interfacial layer between vapor and liquid phases which substitutes the requirement for a physical flexible membrane and any other moving parts. The bubble explosion and implosion in the chamber was triggered by periodically powering a micro-heater, which in turn generated the synthetic jet. High-speed camera photography and a microscope were used to capture sequential images of bubble nucleation, growth and …

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"Keep Your Facts, I'M Going With The Truth": Toward An Ethical Perfromance Of Satire In The Age Of Hyper-Polarization And Culture War, Carson Betts Jan 2021

"Keep Your Facts, I'M Going With The Truth": Toward An Ethical Perfromance Of Satire In The Age Of Hyper-Polarization And Culture War, Carson Betts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Satire is having a unique cultural moment. Conversations about what constitutes satire, why it should be performed, and how can it be done ethically are abundant in American popular culture. As with many forms of art and entertainment, satire has become a major subject of discussion in the great American Culture Wars: the conflict between the highly stratified ideological poles of right and left over the dominance of each's closely held social values, political ideals, and aesthetic sensibilities. Divides, real and imagined, in the American public have given popular discourse a sharp and biting edge, driven by growing political polarization …

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The Actor And The Iceberg, Christopher Creane Jan 2021

The Actor And The Iceberg, Christopher Creane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Actors have ingrained vocal, physical, and mental habits they unknowingly use on stage in the form of physical movements, vocalization, and character choices which can inadvertently communicate information to the audience. Rarely, however, are actors asked to play themselves and if their own habits are unconsciously being merged with their intentional character choices, then the audience's perception of the actor's portrayal may be shaped by unintentional behavior. "The Actor and the Iceberg" will be a synthesis of awareness building and control techniques for the mind and body, specifically: meditation, mindfulness, the Feldenkrais Method, and the Alexander Technique. The goal of …

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Braving The Discomfort: An Examination Of Hate Speech And Racially-Motivated Violence Onstage, And How We Should Approach It, Sarah Hubert Jan 2021

Braving The Discomfort: An Examination Of Hate Speech And Racially-Motivated Violence Onstage, And How We Should Approach It, Sarah Hubert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis is an exploration of best practices in regards to creating a safe space within the theatre for artists to feel comfortable creating without risk to their emotional or physical safety. These safe spaces are particularly needed around shows which call for onstage racial violence or racist language. Methodology for these best practices includes theatrical intimacy, safe space creation as utilized by various advocacy groups, Theatre of the Oppressed, and drama therapy. In addition to these best practices that apply to the entire production, ideas for individual practice are explored. As a case study, Theatre UCF's production of Sweat …

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Sympathy For The Devil: A Compassionate Approach To Morally Reprehensible Characters In Drama, Amy Livingston Jan 2021

Sympathy For The Devil: A Compassionate Approach To Morally Reprehensible Characters In Drama, Amy Livingston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Empathy is often heralded as a vital part of the theatrical experience. Generally understood as the experience of feeling what another person is feeling, it is believed to help actors create more honest performances and to help audiences better understand viewpoints different from their own. These empathic experiences are complicated, however, when applied to stories about characters who commit unforgivably evil acts and may lead people to feel manipulated into justifying or sharing the immoral beliefs of these characters. This thesis argues that for theatre practitioners telling stories about morally reprehensible characters, compassion, involving feelings of care and concern for …

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The Death Of Beowulf: Exploring The Conception, Process, And Lessons Of An Original Solo Performance Based On A Classic, Jeffrey Sneed Jan 2021

The Death Of Beowulf: Exploring The Conception, Process, And Lessons Of An Original Solo Performance Based On A Classic, Jeffrey Sneed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The Death of Beowulf: Exploring the Conception, Process, and Lessons of an Original Solo Performance Based on a Classic is the exploration of a performer's journey understanding how their own identity and aesthetic has been defined by other works of art and how it affects their creative expression. The author examines the nature of classics as culturally and personally formative texts, and how the artist's experiences and interpretation can potentially deliver fresh understandings of a familiar text. Then, by applying this to his own process of devising a script based on the epic poem Beowulf, he grapples with the challenges …

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Towards A Postdramatic Jazz Aesthetic: Per(Form)Ance And Its Discontents, Johann Robert Wood Jan 2021

Towards A Postdramatic Jazz Aesthetic: Per(Form)Ance And Its Discontents, Johann Robert Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In Karen Jürs-Munby's introduction to her English translation of Hans-Thies Lehmann's Postdramatic Theatre (2006), she positions a single African American theatre practitioner, Suzan-Lori Parks, within the canon of postdramatic writers in spite of Lehmann's blind spot for the contribution of Black artists to innovations in theatre practice and aesthetics. This thesis draws from critical jazz studies, particularly Parks's "Rep & Rev" and Fred Moten's analysis of jazz improvisation from his seminal work, In the Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition (2003), in order to visibilize Black contributions to theatre innovation through what has often been overlooked as merely …

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Factors Associated With Resilience And Sense Of Coherence In Adult Transgender Persons: Identifying Predictors To Reduce Health Disparities In A Vulnerable Population, Jake Bush Jan 2021

Factors Associated With Resilience And Sense Of Coherence In Adult Transgender Persons: Identifying Predictors To Reduce Health Disparities In A Vulnerable Population, Jake Bush

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

National studies revealed the transgender population has barriers to positive health outcomes, but also showed evidence of resilience. A focus on health strengths such as resilience may help mitigate health barriers. This work focused on the sociodemographic predictors of and interrelationships between resilience, sense of coherence (SOC), and health perception. There were three aims of this work. The first aim was to review the literature surrounding resilience and SOC in the adult transgender population. Results from an integrative literature review revealed three themes of resilience in the adult transgender population: social support, individual factors, and resources. Prior to the current …

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Artistic Science: An Exploration Of Dramaturgy Through Inquiry-Based Learning For Youth Artists, Sam Dirosa Jan 2021

Artistic Science: An Exploration Of Dramaturgy Through Inquiry-Based Learning For Youth Artists, Sam Dirosa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In the unique world of a play, dramaturgy provides the essential multi-dimensional foundation for comprehensive exploration. As the identity of dramaturgy is complex and continues to evolve, the artistic value discovered through practice positively contributes to the theatrical experience for both artists and audience members. This substantial element is mostly absent from theatrical experiences for youth, usually making a meaningful appearance in professional and collegiate theatre productions. To promote the importance of dramaturgy, I attempt to construct and explore a learning opportunity at Long Lake Camp for the Arts, a summer performing arts camp for youth artists and performers. This …

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Three Papers Examining The Impact Of Non-Financial And Supplier Diversity Disclosures On Investors' Judgments And Decisions., Andria Hill Jan 2021

Three Papers Examining The Impact Of Non-Financial And Supplier Diversity Disclosures On Investors' Judgments And Decisions., Andria Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sustainability reporting is standard practice for large and mid-cap global companies. Sustainability reports are voluntary in nature and are used by companies to report on their sustainability activities to investors and other stakeholders. The supplier diversity disclosure is common amongst sustainability reports; however, current standards provide limited guidance on the information that is pertinent to the users of the information. Supplier diversity and inclusion is an important strategic business initiative, and yet the topic has garnered little attention in academic research. To further examine this topic, I conduct three studies examining the topic using multiple methods. The first study presents …

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Stock Shows And Rodeos: The Crossroads Of Commodification, Consumption, And Care Of Nonhuman Animals, Erin Kidder Jan 2021

Stock Shows And Rodeos: The Crossroads Of Commodification, Consumption, And Care Of Nonhuman Animals, Erin Kidder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study explores the complex relationship between humans and nonhuman animals through the lens of stock shows and rodeos (SSR). This study employs a feminist theoretical framework and an interpretive qualitative research methodology to gain insight into the ways in which humans practice a range of speciesist behaviors relating to their commodification, consumption, and care of other animals. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with 21 individuals who participate in SSR as spectators and competitors and with two animal medical experts, along with field observations at three different SSR held in Florida and Texas. Findings suggest that nonhuman animals serve many …

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Emotional Availability: A Practice-As-Research Exploration On Acting In Film And Theatre, Janice Munk Jan 2021

Emotional Availability: A Practice-As-Research Exploration On Acting In Film And Theatre, Janice Munk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Actors are frequently required to be emotionally available on the spot, in situations ranging from an early morning acting class, to filming a scene well past midnight after a full day on set. In theatre, there is the expectation to deliver the right emotion every performance, and in film, when the camera and crew are ready, the actor is expected to produce the emotion at that moment. This demand to give emotionally compelling performances can cause an actor to stress under the pressure to deliver. Acting for stage and film have similarities and differences, and an actor needs to learn …

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Group Level Cues And The Use Of Force In Domestic And Foreign Policy Contexts, Zlatin Mitkov Jan 2021

Group Level Cues And The Use Of Force In Domestic And Foreign Policy Contexts, Zlatin Mitkov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

To what extent do elite and social group cues affect the public's willingness to embrace their leader's actions during domestic and international security crises? Studies traditionally have focused on top-down elite cue-driven models to study how the public's attitudes are influenced during international and domestic security crises, largely disregarding the bottom-up effects social peer groups can have on individuals' attitudes. This is problematic as the public is regularly exposed to cue messages from elites and social peer groups, both of which are expected to help determine how successful leaders will be in mobilizing public support on a tactical level. To …

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Victim Blame Of Missing People Based On Race And Media Framing, Ciara Peebles Jan 2021

Victim Blame Of Missing People Based On Race And Media Framing, Ciara Peebles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study examined the effects of a missing person's race and framing of their personal characteristics on participants' attribution of victim blame. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (N = 428) and completed a 2x3 between-subjects experimental study. The victim's race (Black vs. White) and news media framing of the victim's personal characteristics (positive vs. mixed vs. negative) were manipulated, and victim blame was assessed through reactions to a mock news article about the missing person's case. A two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted (with the participants' race and Modern Racism Scale score as covariates), and results indicated …

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Spatio-Temporal Representation For Reasoning With Action Genome, Kesar Tumkur Narasimhamurthy Jan 2021

Spatio-Temporal Representation For Reasoning With Action Genome, Kesar Tumkur Narasimhamurthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Representing Spatio-temporal information in videos has proven to be a difficult task compared to action recognition in videos involving multiple actions. A single activity consists many smaller actions that can provide a better understanding of the activity. This paper tries to represent the varying information in a scene-graph format in order to answer temporal questions to obtain improved insights for the video, resulting in a directed temporal information graph. This project will use the Action Genome dataset, which is a variation of the charades dataset, to capture pairwise relationships in a graph. The model performs significantly better than the benchmark …

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Asper, Isaiah Nearor Jan 2021

Asper, Isaiah Nearor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Asper is a microbudget feature-length film written, directed, and funded by Isaiah D. Nearor for the requirements of earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the University of Central Florida. Completing a film production can be challenging because not every day is the same. Production took place during Summer 2021 during COVID 19. With proper guidance and safety protocol, the film made it through production. The film is a narrative thriller. This thesis explains the process and decisions made from preproduction through post-production.

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Two Studies Investigating Institutional Theory And Municipalities' Payments In Lieu Of Taxes Programs In Nonprofit Organizations, Gregory Stone Jan 2021

Two Studies Investigating Institutional Theory And Municipalities' Payments In Lieu Of Taxes Programs In Nonprofit Organizations, Gregory Stone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Building on prior studies analyzing institutional logics within and among organizations, I first investigate large nonprofit organizations in Boston, Massachusetts, to determine the logics held by these organizations, how the logics drive organizational behavior when faced with payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOTs), and the strategies they implement as they recompose their position in the field. Using nonprofit community benefit reports, news and trade publications, and data from the Boston PILOT Program, I explore the development of organizational activities and how they use a combination of market and community logics to construct themselves as charitable. Nonprofit pursuit of creating and maintaining a strong civil …

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Easy Money: Examining Social Disorganization, Urbanization, Healthcare Fraud, And Community Health In America., Wilmer Alvarez Irizarry Jan 2021

Easy Money: Examining Social Disorganization, Urbanization, Healthcare Fraud, And Community Health In America., Wilmer Alvarez Irizarry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In the past 40 years, the health of citizens in the United States has changed significantly. The population of the United States managed to get sicker and die slower across the prior four decades. Adding to this complexity is the fact that illnesses and health behaviors in the United States are also not equally distributed by race, class, gender, or other social factors. These facts do not only reflect level of the disease and illness in the United States, but also the disparities that exist within them and the sociomedical factors that impact health. Despite costing American taxpayers between $120 …

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