Digital Commons Network^™

In Absentia Parentis: The Orphan Figure In Latter Twentieth Century Anglo-American Children’S Fantasy, James Michael Curtis

Dissertations

Childhood development theory tells us that there are certain psychological processes that we all undergo during childhood, regardless of our national or cultural background. These developmental struggles can include some of the more ambivalent cycles—such as regression, which can be both a positive and negative phenomenon—but can also include some of the more beneficial processes like overcoming separation anxiety and creating and establishing a sense of self. One figure that is often marginalized in discussions of childhood development in children’s fantasy fiction is the orphan. In fact, book-length studies on the orphan figure in children’s literary fantasy are virtually non-existent; …

Lignocellulose As Carbon Source Promotes Bacterial Synergism And Reduces Antagonism, Yijie Deng

Dissertations

Lignocellulose decomposes slowly in nature because it consists of complex polymers resistant to enzymatic degradation by most organisms. Some bacteria are capable of producing cellulolytic enzymes but the way in which bacteria interact within a community to enhance degradation of the recalcitrant substrate is poorly understood. A better understanding of how bacterial interactions affect lignocellulose degradation would provide potential approaches to improve the efficiency of lignocellulose degradation for biofuel production.

To study whether bacterial interactions enhance lignocellulose degradation, I grew environmental bacterial isolates in mixed cultures and pure cultures. I found that bacterial synergism in mixed cultures was common in …

Ecology And Genetics Of Lungless Salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) In The Gulf Coastal Plain, Jennifer Yasmin Lamb

Dissertations

During the last half century, lungless salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) have been the subject of numerous studies in the fields of ecology and genetics. While most works have focused on the species-rich Eastern Highlands region, there has been a recent shift towards plethodontid assemblages within the Coastal Plain. The research presented herein applies hierarchical occupancy models and both mitochondrial and nuclear genes to address questions pertinent to the biology and conservation of plethodontids within the Gulf Coastal Plain. The results of a multi-species Bayesian single-season occupancy model indicated that two environmental gradients, upstream drainage area and stream drying, influenced the probability …

Transition Between Phases Of The Annual Cycle: Spring Migration To Breeding In Nearctic-Neotropical Songbirds, Kristen Marie Covino

Dissertations

Appropriate timing of each life-history stage is crucial for seasonally migratory species. The temporal constraints faced by migratory songbirds require that they overlap preparation for breeding with spring migration. However, previous work has focused primarily on male birds and has produced inconsistent results regarding the degree of overlap between these two life-history stages. I study the degree to which migrating male and female songbirds prepare for breeding throughout spring migration as they move towards their breeding grounds. Overall, male migrants show a significant degree of breeding preparation during spring migration as determined by circulating testosterone levels and their ability to …

Synthesis And Characterization Of "Click Inspired" Thiol-Ene-Fullerene Nanocomposites, Amber Danielle Windham

Dissertations

This work explores the covalent incorporation of C₆₀ and Sc₃N@C₈₀ fullerenes into thiol-ene networks by a facile, one-pot photochemical reaction with multifunctional thiol and alkene monomers. Synthesis of disulfide bonds within the tri-functional thiol monomer served to photochemically initiate the reaction when cleaved. This was followed by thermal curing of the pre-polymer for preparation of fullerene-containing thiol-ene films. Films were characterized by standard techniques including infrared spectroscopy, gel percent, and thermogravimetric analysis. The role of C₆₀ and Sc₃N@C₈₀ as suitable alkenes for free-radical reaction with multifunctional thiols was investigated by preparing a …

What Influences Dolphin Interest In Video?, Kelley Ann Winship

Dissertations

Environmental enrichment is an important component in maintaining the welfare of animals housed in human care. While a variety of enrichment types (e.g., objects, food, sound) have been utilized, a major challenge in developing enrichment is determining the enrichment potential of various techniques for individual animals. In this study, the efficacy of video clips as enrichment devices was assessed in two species of captive dolphins, exposed to video footage accompanied by sound. Videos were evenly divided into five categories, based on content, and played at underwater viewing windows across 20 sessions while the animals were housed with conspecifics. Species and …

Visual Approach And Design: The Appropriate Characteristics Of Instructional Photos As A Tool To Support Elementary Setting In Kuwait, Ali Buhamad

Dissertations

This study provided a guide for appropriate characteristics of Instructional Photo to be used by teachers, trainers, coaches, instructors, and anyone else who desires to deliver knowledge and present content with visual meaning to elementary students in the state of Kuwait as a teaching style that supports teachers, facilitates clarification, and gets the learners’ attention and motivates them. This study used a basic qualitative method. The participants in this study were two teachers and two photography artists from Kuwait who had at least 10 years of experience in both fields and were selected from researcher relationships. The data collection was …

I Don’T Like The Talking Part: The Use Of Videogames To Facilitate Grief Therapy For Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kyle Brent Johnson

Dissertations

Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder often experience difficulties interacting with peers and expressing their emotions, characteristics that may complicate their grief experiences. This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences of four adolescents with ASD who participated in grief therapy facilitated through the use of videogames. Each participant engaged in 10 weekly grief counseling sessions. Participants and caregivers were interviewed prior to counseling, mid-way (participants only), and after completion of therapy. All counseling and interview sessions were video- or audio-recorded, and transcripts were created from these recordings. All data were analyzed and coded through the lens of the different …

A Validation Study Of The Orientation Model, Brett David Wilkinson

Dissertations

The orientation model is a multidimensional measure of dual-processing capacities that incorporates four empirically-validated instruments taken from the existing literature on cognitive processing, attachment, empathy, and self-focused attention. As a strength-based conceptualization tool for humanistic counseling practices, the model is intended to provide counselors with a flexible means to assess non-diagnostic client attributes within a dispositional model of client cognitive processing patterns. Although humanistic principles often conflict with the use of quantitative instruments in clinical practice, the model is guided by the tenet that objective measures can effectively supplement clinical insight into client patterns of functioning. It thus serves as …

Outdoor Education And Mobile Learning: An Autobiographical Narrative Using Application-Based Information And Resources, Ivan Nikolaeff

Dissertations

Although mobile learning using smartphones and applications or apps have the potential to inform and educate individuals in an outdoor environment, users may find that connectivity issues and basic knowledge of outdoor environments, including both physical and emotional, could be limited by what this technology provided. This study provided my perspective as both participant and researcher on a journey over 150 miles on the Colorado Trail, using my iPhone as my primary tool for navigation and information for learning how to survive in an outdoor environment. From the beginning, the physical effects were difficult to overcome, but it was the …

Evaluation Of Students' Interest, Effort Beliefs, And Self-Efficacy In General Chemistry, Brent Ferrell

Dissertations

The research described in this dissertation is outlined in three phases and is focused on the measurement, interrelationships, and understanding of self-efficacy, interest, and effort beliefs among general chemistry students. The primary drive behind this research was to provide measurement tools to chemistry education researchers and practitioners as a way to evaluate novel and alternative teaching strategies and interventions. The first phase of this study involved gathering evidence for validity and reliability of four previously published scales that measured initial interest, maintained interest, self-efficacy, and effort beliefs. These scales were taken from other disciplines, with the exception of the self-efficacy …

Evolution And Biological Roles Of Three-Finger Toxins In Snake Venoms, Cassandra M. Modahl

Dissertations

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of many enzymatic and non-enzymatic proteins, as well as small peptides. Several major venom protein superfamilies, including three-finger toxins, phospholipases A2, serine proteinases, metalloproteinases, proteinase inhibitors and lectins, are found in almost all snake venoms, from front-fanged viperids (vipers and pit vipers) and elapids (cobras, mambas, sea snakes, etc.) to rear-fanged colubrids. However, these proteins vary in abundance and functionality between species. Variation in snake venom composition is attributed to both differences in the expression levels of toxin encoding genes and occurrence of amino acid sequence polymorphisms. Documenting intraspecific venom variation has both clinical (antiserum …

Developing A Rhythmic Vocabulary: Exercises Derived From The West African Influence On Jazz, Brian Anthony Rodesch

Dissertations

Rhythm is largely noted as a defining characteristic of jazz, yet as jazz education has gained a more prominent role in higher education, course time and materials dedicated to rhythmic training remain scarce. As previous research has demonstrated, there is an abundance of resources and methods that emphasize harmonic elements, focusing largely on chord/scale relationships; this prevalence of materials dedicated to harmony only serves to highlight the paucity of resources related to rhythm. This study seeks to develop exercises that can supplement harmonic exercises and concepts to aid educators and performers in gaining a broader understanding of rhythm, while bolstering …

Biological Distance In Middle And Late Archaic Populations Of The Mid-South United States, Meadow Lea Campbell

Dissertations

This dissertation used osteometrics to assess the level of congruence between biological distance and long-distance material exchange in three Middle and Late Archaic groups living in the mid-South United States. Dental and cranial data support greater biological affinity between groups in southern Illinois (represented by individuals from the Black Earth site) and central Tennessee (individuals from Eva and surrounding sites) while groups in the Green River region of western Kentucky (Shell Mound Archaic) were somewhat more removed or perhaps more isolated. Females were more biologically variable than males for the majority of metrics used. This finding is suggestive of a …

Naturally Striated Muscle: Examining The Ideographic Crystallization Of, Dustin L. Briggs

Dissertations

In U.S. America and much of the Western world, natural is a venerated symbolic placeholder for any number of assumed virtues and ideals. Present conflicts have brought forward questions about what natural (which I argue functions as an ideograph) should mean in contexts that seem to call for a formal, enforceable definition. In this study, I use the vocabulary of Deleuze and Guattari (1987) and the context of bodybuilding to work towards a theory of how ambiguous ideographs become "striated" or “crystallized.” Within this discussion I present instances where natural has been employed as a vehicle to cause harm, and …

Cracking The World System: Mediating Public Pedagogies From The “World Revolution” Of 1848, James Kepley Anderson

Dissertations

This project adopts the framework of World Systems Analysis [WSA], formulated by global sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, to take the entire world system as the unit of analysis. Drawing on the work of Paulo Freire, the seminal theorist of critical pedagogy, this project couples WSA with the analytic lens of public pedagogy to overcome the conceptual limitations of ideology and of various postmodern critiques. Primary media sources are used for purposes of critical political economy, to outline the contours of economic changes and class formations from the first world revolution. A detailed descriptive history of the revolutions that swept across Europe …

Body Image And Anthropometric Measurements In Bariatric Surgery Patients, Julie Ann Varns

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore body image and anthropometric (body mass index) measurements in bariatric surgery patients over three months. Conceptual framework: The dimensions of body image are body attitude, Appearance Evaluation, body checking, body space, body size, and Appearance Orientation. Body attitude is affective distress related to one’s weight, shape, size, and fatness. Appearance Evaluation is feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with one’s looks. Body checking is the repeated scrutiny of one’s body size, shape, and weight. Perceived body space is the amount of space individuals perceive their bodies to occupy. Perceived body size is …

Patterns Of Olfactory Neurogenesis And Immune Response In Adult Zebrafish Following Damage Of The Olfactory Bulb, Darcy M. Trimpe

Dissertations

The adult zebrafish olfactory system, with its persistent neuronal turnover and abundant regenerative capacity, is an excellent model system for studies of adult brain plasticity. Reversible deafferentation, achieved by repeated intranasal irrigation with detergent, reduces bulbar innervation and affects bulb structure and function, while cessation of treatment permits reinnervation and recovery of bulb volume. Alterations in cell genesis may account for this phenomenon. This study focuses on adult neurogenesis in the zebrafish olfactory system following reversible deafferentation and direct olfactory bulb injury.

Potential alterations in cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, and survival in the olfactory bulb following single and repeated intranasal …

On Myrtle: A Novel, Laurie Ann Cedilnik

Dissertations

For nearly a century, readers have known the story of Myrtle Wilson, infamous literary mistress of F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY. Fitzgerald's Tom Buchanan is married to a woman who is the picture of wealth and elegance, and yet he is drawn to this woman about whom readers know very little, and about whom we hear only in a retrospective vantage of the partial observer Nick Carraway. Mrs. Wilson puts on airs and takes blows, an her death is as graphic as any of literature's fallen women. And like Myrtle, Fitzgerald casts his fictionalized Flushing as symbolic of a …

Assessing The Impact Of Historical Story Telling On Student Learning Of Natural Selection, Janice Marie Fulford

Dissertations

Research suggests that because of its historical nature, the learning of evolutionary biology is problematic compared to that of other science disciplines. While explanations used in historical sciences often employ historical narratives, which are distinct from narratives in other contexts, such as stories, the two types of narratives have structural similarities that suggest the potential role of stories based in the history of science for the teaching of evolutionary biology. Stephen Klassen, a prominent science educator, has studied how stories from the history of physics can promote the learning of and attitudes towards science. Klassen’s pioneering work identifies structural components …

School Readiness Of First Grade Charter School Students: An Evaluation Of An Early Childhood Program, Dr Shandowlyon L. Hendricks-Williams

Dissertations

This program evaluation studied the effectiveness of an early childhood program as it relates to school readiness. The early childhood program of a charter school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had been operating for over thirty without an evaluation of its effectiveness. To examine the effectiveness of the early childhood program, seventy-two students were evaluated using a teacher-developed First Grade Readiness Checklist; the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Test and Success for All (SFA) Assessment. School readiness, as a multifaceted construct, included five domains: academic, behavioral, emotional, social and self-help-skills.

The results of the survey indicate that the early childhood program …

Paris Burn, Iliana Rocha

Dissertations

First and foremost, Paris Burn- interrogates language as a rebel heteroglot in its relation to power and to identity, focusing on liminality and marginality. The speakers in these poems constantly (re)enact, generate, disassemble, and revise their lyric selves, either reaffirming or challenging dominant discourses and ideologies. Drag queens figure prominently throughout the manuscript because they are the physical embodiment of constructs that challenge an essential identity—race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. The title, an abbreviated form of Paris is Burning, an influential 1980s documentary profiling drag culture in New York City, invokes a physical body that figures in metaphorical relation to …

The Evaluation Of The Outcomes Of Work Ethic Curriculum: A Report On The Perceptions From Faculty And Students, John E. Wood

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the work ethic attitudes and behaviors of entering Ethos freshmen to students who were about to graduate. Data was collected by two means, first by using the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) instrument and the second by analyzing existing work ethic grades issued by faculty. The dependent variables were the seven dimensions of work ethic in the MWEP and the five Ethos work ethic traits. The population for this study consisted of members of the freshman and graduating classes from the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years. A purposive sample was taken from …

Obesity A Sociological Analysis Of The Body Image Attitudes Among Young Emirati Men, Richard Benson Hoffman

Dissertations

This Dissertation is concerned with the problem of obesity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This UAE has a high prevalence of obesity (Hajat, Harrison & Al siksek 2012 :909) This Dissertation provided recommendation to improve obesity interventions in the UAE by exploring the body image attitudes (how people think and feel about their bodies and the bodies of others) of young ,Emirati men. The sample was 340 Emeriti citizen men between the ages 18-29from all seven emirates. The data was collected through a survey and individual and focus –group interviews. The prevalence of overweight and obesity of the of …

Understanding Millennial, Generation X, And Baby Boomer Preferred Leadership Characteristics: Informing Today’S Leaders And Followers, Lee-Volker Cox

Dissertations

Purpose. This quantitative study’s purpose was to describe and determine the degree of difference and importance of leadership characteristics as perceived by Baby Boom, Generation X, and Millennial generational cohort followers in STEM-related U.S.-based or headquartered aerospace and computer organizations as measured by the Multigenerational Leadership Characteristics Questionnaire (MLCQ).

Methodology. This was a cross-sectional, nonexperimental, comparative and correlational quantitative, ex post facto study. A web-based MLCQ was developed after conducting an academic literature review. Participants used a 6-point Likert scale identifying the importance of 30 characteristics with 2 aggregation questions identifying the most and least important characteristics; 408 members of …

An Evaluation Of An Adaptive Learning Tool In An Introductory Business Course, Tim A. Rogers

Dissertations

Adding technology to the classroom has been an instructional strategy used by many higher-education institutions to increase student success, but merely adding computers, multimedia devices, and other technology to the classroom with pedagogical arbitrariness has proven to have little effect. The purpose of this study was to determine if using the adaptive learning technology (ALT) tool, LearnSmart, in seated introductory business courses would result in a statistically significant difference in unit exam scores, to analyze changes in exam performance through different time increments used of the ALT, and to investigate correlations between the student’s metacognition in the ALT module and …

A Study On Sanguinarine As An Antileukemic Agent- Involvement Of Reactive Oxygen Species-Ceramide-Akt Apoptotic Signaling Pathway, Anees Rahman Cheratta

Dissertations

Dysregulation of apoptosis is a prime hallmark of leukemia. Therefore, drugs which restore the sensitivity of leukemic cells to apoptotic stimuli are promising candidates in the treatment of leukemia. The main objective of this dissertation was to examine the antileukemic effect of sanguinarine, in vitro, and to further examine the signaling mechanisms that may be involved. This study demonstrates that in human leukemic cells, sanguinarine activates a caspase-dependent apoptotic cell death pathway that is characterized by reactive oxygen species-dependent ceramide generation, and subsequent inhibition of Akt signaling pathway. In addition, sanguinarine also induces reactive oxygen species-dependent glutathione depletion and …

Verification Of Emotion Recognition From Facial Expression, Yanjia Sun

Dissertations

Analysis of facial expressions is an active topic of research with many potential applications, since the human face plays a significant role in conveying a person’s mental state. Due to the practical values it brings, scientists and researchers from different fields such as psychology, finance, marketing, and engineering have developed significant interest in this area. Hence, there are more of a need than ever for the intelligent tool to be employed in the emotional Human-Computer Interface (HCI) by analyzing facial expressions as a better alternative to the traditional devices such as the keyboard and mouse.

The face is a window …

Plasticity Of The Cortical Representation Of Finger Extensors Induced By Paired Associative Stimulation, Ian Anthony Gerard Lafond

Dissertations

This dissertation first explored associative plasticity of the human motor cortical representation with the use of noninvasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) paired with peripheral electrical stimulation. Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) has grown in popularity because of its potential clinical applications. PAS techniques are used in combination with electromyography (EMG) measurements to study cortical excitability and features of hand movement. This work focuses on a cohesive approach to answer central questions about: the ideal mechanism to facilitate cortical plasticity via PAS, the interaction between the behavior performed and type of stimulation delivered to the targeted cortical network and the effects of …

Measuring The Effectiveness Of Software-Based Training To Improve The Spatial Visualization Skills Of Students In Stem Disciplines In Higher Education Institutions, Peter Cole

Dissertations

This research investigates how software can be used to teach spatial skills leading to greater success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) fields. Existing research indicates that spatial skills can be taught and that good spatial skills are common to people who succeed in STEM fields. In this work, a software-only testing system with a direct targeted, training intervention module was implemented to measure and teach spatial skills using mental rotations, which are believed to be one of the most significant indicators of success in STEM fields. Spatial skills were tested using a standardized and validated test that measures …