Digital Commons Network^™

W.E.B. Du Bois And The Rhetoric Of Social Change, 1897-1907: Attitude As Incipient Action, Fendrich Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the social change rhetoric of scholar and civic activist W.E.B. Du Bois to understand the role, motivations, influences, and shortcomings of his message upon a shifting current of black thought during the late ninetieth and early twentieth-century. In this study, I focus upon Du Bois' rhetorical aptitude in the building of his character, the emotional appeals made to his immediate audience, and the logical arguments and counter arguments that he publicly advanced in developing his program of parallel development.
I contend that in providing an alternate narrative to the competing opinions of accommodation as a solution to …

African American Males And Issues Of Fatherhood: An Examination Of The Sweat Lodge As A Psychosocial And Spiritual Intervention, Jay E. Darr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emasculation of African American men is illustrated by disparities in the criminal justice system, education, employment, income, and health care, which has an impact on an African American man's ability to be a father. Researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners have struggled with establishing sustainable programs that address the complex issues that face African American men, especially when they have children (Martinson & Nightingale 2008). The emergence of the Sweat Lodge as an intervention for Native Americans has had some promising results (Cohen, 2003; Edwards, 2003, Noe, Fleming & Manson 2003; Smith, 2005). However, there is limited research on the Sweat …

Evolution Of Prostatic Acid Phosphatase (Acpp) Expression In Hominoids, Kathryn Hooper-Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hominoids vary in their mating behavior. Levels of sperm competition vary accordingly. Species in which females mate with a large number of males are expected to experience high levels of sperm competition, such as chimpanzee and bonobo, while polygynous gorillas likely have little or no sperm competition. Coding regions of several seminal proteins have been shown to be experiencing positive selection, but little is known about the regulatory regions of these genes. The 1.7 kb upstream promoter region of prostatic acid phosphatase (ACPP) of human, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, gibbon, and macaque was cloned into a luciferase reporter vector and transiently …

The Problem Of Substantial Generation In Aristotle's Physical Writings, Michael Ivins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the relation between Aristotle's account of the generation of substances and his attempt to lay the foundations for his natural philosophy. The central question concerns the injunction posed by the Eleatic philosophers to the study of nature on the basis of the principle "ex nihilo nihil" which they formulated into argument against the intelligibility of nature. Aristotle's Physics begins with a sustained attempt to defeat the Eleatic prohibition by demonstrating that change in general can be understood once a few principles are established. My reading of the arguments that constitute Aristotle's refutation of the Eleatics and the …

Atrazine And Info-Disruption: Does The Pesticide Atrazine Disrupt The Transfer Of Chemical Information In The Terrestrial Salamander, Plethodon Shermani?, Stephanie Lanzel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Atrazine is a commonly used herbicide in the United States and is a potential info-disruptor. Atrazine acts as an info-disruptor in fish, by dampening olfactory responses to pheromones, and atrazine has been linked to endocrine disruption in frogs. By interfering with chemoreception, atrazine may potentially impact foraging and reproductive success in various species. I hypothesized that in the terrestrial salamander, Plethodon shermani, in which chemical communication is important in social and foraging behaviors; atrazine would act as an odorant and/or interfere with chemosensation. I predicted that both acute and chronic exposure to atrazine would decrease chemoinvestigative behaviors, pheromone detection by …

Aesthetic Pedagogy: Kierkegaard And Adorno On The Communication Of Possibility, Clifford Gentry Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on Adorno's appropriative reading of Kierkegaard. Adorno interprets Kierkegaard's notion of the aesthetic as an active philosophical principal. He finds this principle to be at work throughout Kierkegaard's authorship as the means of the justification of the particular and concrete in defiance of their would be enslavement to the general and abstract. The aesthetic principle is that which requires Kierkegaard's readers to become active participants in the formation of the experienced meaning of his texts. Adorno's approach facilitates a reading of Kierkegaard that focuses on his pedagogical use of the communicative power of imagery. At the same …

A Study Of Health Care Practices And Health Beliefs Of Puerto Rican Women In Southeastern Pennsylvania, Lorraine Martin-Plank

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this focused ethnography was to discover the culturally based health care beliefs and practices of the Puerto Rican population in urban Southeastern Pennsylvania as related by Puerto Rican women. The study also sought to discern the influence of acculturation on the health beliefs and practices of this population. The study used a qualitative methodology to elicit the emic viewpoint of the informants through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, fieldnotes and memos. A quantitative measurement scale was used to measure psychological acculturation; most informants were bicultural although all self-identified Puerto Rico as home. A purposive sampling strategy with snowballing …

Analysis Of Scoring Music To Visual Media, Barak Shpiez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The four works presented as the large thesis composition for the recital of Barak Shpiez represent the challenges of scoring music to picture in contemporary practice. The four selections characterize the diversity of styles a composer must be able to effectively emulate in order to convincingly accentuate the mood and emotion of the visual element. The process involves interpreting the filmmaker's intentions, composing music to compliment this, and realizing the composition by various methods of audio recording and musical performance.

The process is a unique blend of the visual and auditory, art and commerce, abstract thinking and logistical planning. A …

On The Use And Abuse Of Nietzsche For Marketing Communication: Examining Consumer Suspicion Toward Advertising, Daniel Ulf Assmus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines increasing consumer suspicion in light of contemporary marketing praxis. Immanuel Kant's concept of "self-inflicted intellectual immaturity" is traced throughout 20th century marketing literature. A review of the public relations practices of Edward Bernays reveals a close similarity to recent concepts of integrated marketing communication (Schultz). This project contrasts marketing communication approaches grounded in mass psychology with the rational choice model of consumer behavior.

These dualistic viewpoints are often regarded as mutually exclusive; however, this author proposes an "integrated dualism" of marketing communication to provide consumers with ways to redeem rhetorical "tokens" (Mayhew) that constitute the managerial rhetoric …

The Steroid Sulfatase Inhibitor (P-O-Sulfamoyl) - Tetradecanoyl Tyramine (Du-14) Enhances Memory Retention In Passive Avoidance In Rats With Hippocampal Cholinergic Deficit, Phebian Arinola Abitoye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neurosteroids, such as dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, (DHEAS) are steroidal compounds synthesized within the central nervous system that modulate its function. Among the effects associated with sulfated neurosteroids is the enhancement of memory. Previous studies have demonstrated that altering the metabolism of neurosteroids via inhibition of the enzyme steroid sulfatase could reverse scopolamine-induced amnesia. p-O-(Sulfamoyl) - tetradecanoyl tyramine (DU-14) is a steroid sulfatase inhibitor (SSI) that prevents the conversion of DHEAS to DHEA thereby increasing the concentration of sulfated neurosteroids to potentiate the effect of endogenous DHEAS. To determine whether DU-14 could enhance memory retention for footshock in rats with hippocampal cholinergic …

Emergency Contraception, Catholic Hospitals, And Rape, Valerie Violi-Satkoske

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that a woman is permitted to protect herself from becoming pregnant due to rape. However, scientific uncertainties with regard to emergency contraception's mechanisms of action and the inability to detect pregnancy prior to implantation have led many Catholic healthcare facilities to limit a rape victims access to emergency contraception (EC), due to what the Church construes to be EC's potentially abortifacient properties. While the science is uncertain, the withholding of EC by Catholic healthcare facilities treats the science as settled, true, or certain and may be experienced as oppressive by rape victims. The Catholic Church …

William Dean Howells And The New Science: Darwinian Evolution And The Rise Of Realism, Stephen Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Broad acceptance of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species emboldened a young William Dean Howells to explore the possibility of a scientific foundation for a new literature combining close observations of the immediate environment with a method of interpreting these observations based on evolutionary science as Howells understood it. Charles Sprague's "The Darwinian Theory," published in the Atlantic in 1866, the year Howells became assistant editor, provided the foundation for this new method, and Alfred Russel Wallace's The Malay Archipelago (1869) prompted Howells to take what he called "a new direction" in fiction based on evolutionary theory and natural selection. He …

Kenosis As Performance Of Power In The Theology Of Julian Of Norwich, Patricia Donohue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines models of power and submission in the writings of Julian of Norwich through the symbol of kenosis. Chapter 1analyzes kenosis in its original context (Paul's letter to the Philippians) where it expresses the "self-emptying" movement of a divine person becoming human, suffering a violent death and returning to an exalted state. It then examines uses of kenosis as a model of power and submission in late 20th century thought and proposes critical questions from a feminist standpoint, specifically its potential to justify or re-enforce abuse. The therapeutic context of recovery for survivors of abuse is proposed as …

The Effect Of Applying Wikis In An English As A Foreign Language (Efl) Class In Taiwan, Yu-Ching Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incorporating technology into learning has brought major benefits to learners and has greatly changed higher education. Since there is limited number of experimental research investigating the effectiveness of applying wikis, this study collected experimental data to investigate its effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of applying wikis in terms of students' learning outcomes, to investigate the changes regarding students' attitude towards language learning, to explore the communication channels in wikis that facilitate students' interaction in the e-learning environment as well as students' experience of using wikis. Results showed that there existed statistically significant difference between …

Bird Dreams : Stories And A One-Act Play, Michael Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Phase-Shifting Haar Wavelets For Image-Based Rendering Applications, Mais Alnasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we establish the underlying research background necessary for tackling the problem of phase-shifting in the wavelet transform domain. Solving this problem is the key to reducing the redundancy and huge storage requirement in Image-Based Rendering (IBR) applications, which utilize wavelets. Image-based methods for rendering of dynamic glossy objects do not truly scale to all possible frequencies and high sampling rates without trading storage, glossiness, or computational time, while varying both lighting and viewpoint. This is due to the fact that current approaches are limited to precomputed radiance transfer (PRT), which is prohibitively expensive in terms of memory …

Painting The Sublime Landscape And Learning To See Nature Along The Way, Deborah Browne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is one artist's response to the question of the relevance of landscape painting today, focusing on the communication of the idea of environmental stewardship. The process of studying nature and transferring that vision to canvas promotes greater understanding of the beauty and complexity of elements that comprise ecosystems. The artist possesses a creative impulse finding satisfaction in making artwork that expresses a love of nature as part of a larger worldview. If done well, the persuasive power of such art may be enormous. Comprised of oil paintings and written work, this thesis establishes a way of approaching both …

Creating Marginality And Reconstructing Narrative: Reconfiguring Karen Social And Geo-Political Alignment, Barbara Verchot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pre-modern conceptualization of shifting borderlands and territories rather than fixed boundaries often allowed for the dynamic flow of peoples between polities. Until the late 1800s and the colonization of Burma in 1886 by the British Empire, this permeability of the borders of its territory was how Siam (currently Thailand) viewed its geo-political sphere (Thomson 1995:272). Britain extended the boundaries of its empire beyond India to guarantee the economic interests of the British Empire. With this push eastward, Siam abutted a polity that rejected the idea of shifting borderlands. The British ascribed to the modern concept of non-permeability of borders. This …

Emotional Evaluation Of A Product/System, Hana Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technological advances in products and systems have brought emotional design or emotional engineering to the forefront of research. While several measures to assess emotional expression of products have been developed, the source of the emotion rating of a product or system was often unclear. The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct three studies to examine the causes of emotional ratings and to establish if product-specific emotion rating scales are useful for capturing accurate user evaluations. Three studies were conducted using citrus juicers. Juicers were chosen for several reasons: their wide variety of styles, one self-explanatory purpose (to make juice), …

Adolescents' Stress And Health: Parental Influences And Cognitive Mediators, Reesa Donnelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research to date indicates that parental and cognitive variables play a role in stress responses and health outcomes. Although researchers are beginning to focus on developmental processes in stress/health outcomes, there is little research examining which parental behaviors are most predictive of stress/health and whether cognitive variables mediate this relationship. As a result, the current study examines the self-reports of 160 late adolescents regarding parental behaviors, cognitive variables, and stress/health outcomes. In addition, blood pressure reactivity to a stressful situation was collected as a physiological measure of stress. The results suggest that, among the parental behaviors that are examined, parental …

Hatching Asynchrony Occurs As A Byproduct Of Maintaining Egg Viability, Robert Aldredge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many organisms, embryonic development begins directly after an egg (ovum) has been fertilized by sperm; however, some organisms delay the onset of embryonic development until conditions are favorable for raising young. This delayed onset of development could occur by delaying implantation of fertilized ovum on the uterine wall, as seen in many mammals. Birds delay embryonic development by laying a set of fertilized ova over a period of consecutive days. These fertilized ova are protected from the ambient environment by an exterior shell, and it is in this shell outside of the female s body that embryonic development occurs, …

The Distribution, Abundance, And Habitat Use Of The Big Cypress Fox Squirrel, (Sciurus Niger Avicennia)., Danielle Munim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human population growth and development reduce the area and quality of natural communities and lead to a reduction of populations of the species associated with them. Certain species can be useful indicators or "focal species" for determining the quality of ecosystem remnants and the required management practices. Tree squirrels are good models for studies on the effects of fragmentation because they depend on mature forests. The Big Cypress fox squirrel, (Sciurus niger avicennia), a state-listed Threatened subspecies endemic to south Florida, appears sensitive to habitat fragmentation and fire regime. This research aims to assess the conservation status of the Big …

Determination Of The Degradation Mechanism For Polychlorinated Biphenyl Congeners Using Mechanically Alloyed Magnesium/Palladium, Robert Devor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Polychlorinated biphenyls are a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that can be found today throughout the world in soils and sediments, lakes and rivers, and flora and fauna. PCBs have percolated throughout the food chain, so that almost every human being has a detectable amount of the contaminant within their blood stream. Existing remediation methods include incineration, dredging and landfilling, and microbial degradation, but all of these methods have drawbacks that limit their effectiveness as treatment options. Recently, the use of zero-valent metals as a means of reductive dechlorination has been explored. Using a combination of zero-valent magnesium and catalytic palladium, a …

Using Stable Isotopes To Assess Population Structure And Feeding Ecology Of North Pacific Humpback Whales (Megaptera Novaeangliae), Briana Witteveen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The North Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a wide-ranging baleen whale species with a complex life history and population structure. As seasonal migrants, humpback whales are known to inhabit cooler, high-latitude waters when foraging and low-latitudes for mating and calving. Beyond this general migratory pattern, a number of demographic characteristics including, abundance, distribution, seasonal occurrence, and prey preferences remain unknown or poorly described. A complete understanding of humpback whale ecology is therefore lacking. Many methods used to explore these aspects of cetacean ecology are either prohibitively expensive or limited in the scope of what can be learned from their …

The Spiritual Competency Scale: A Comparison To The Aservic Spiritual Competencies, Linda Robertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spiritual and religious beliefs are significant aspects of a person's worldview and have been well established within many disciplines as a resource for physical and mental health. Therefore, they are relevant topics for counselors. The governing bodies of the counseling profession support the discussion of these beliefs in counseling. To meet the ethical mandates for competency in this area, the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC) produced the Spiritual Competencies. Despite these efforts, spiritual and religious material continues to be neglected in counselor training programs. In the absence of a formal measure of spiritual competency, curricular …

Educational Handheld Video: Examining Shot Composition, Graphic Design, And Their Impact On Learning, Jason Hutchens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Formal features of video such as shot composition and graphic design can weigh heavily on the success or failure of educational videos. Many studies have assessed the proper use of these techniques given the psychological expectations that viewers have for video programming (Hawkins et al., 2002; Kenny, 2002; Lang, Zhou, Schwardtz, Bolls, & Potter, 2000; McCain, Chilberg, & Wakshlag, 1977; McCain & Repensky, 1972; Miller, 2005; Morris, 1984; Roe, 1998; Schmitt, Anderson, & Collins, 1999; Sherman & Etling, 1991; Tannenbaum & Fosdick, 1960; Wagner, 1953). This study examined formal features within the context of the newly emerging distribution method of …

The Effects Of Informal Science Education On Students' Attitudes And Academic Performance, Samuel Ashley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Will student attitudes towards science change when they are given a chance to explore an area of science in which they have indicated an interest? This action research thesis investigated this question over a period of nine weeks. The subjects of this study included twelve students enrolled in the same seventh grade physical science class. The school was located in a suburban setting in the Southeast United States. Data for this study was collected with anecdotal notes, participation grid, science attitude survey, student interviews, and student journals. This study found that when students are given the opportunity to pursue an …

Cross-Modal Effects In Tactile And Visual Signaling, James Merlo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using a wearable tactile display three experiments were conducted in which tactile messages were created emulating five standard US Army and Marine arm and hand signals for the military commands, namely: "Attention", "Halt", "Rally", "Move Out", and "Nuclear Biological or Chemical event (NBC)". Response times and accuracy rates were collected for novices responding to visual and tactile representations of these messages, which were displayed either alone or together in congruent or incongruent combinations. Results indicated synergistic effects for concurrent, congruent message presentations showing superior response times when compared to individual presentations in either modality alone. This effect was mediated by …

Multimedia Computer-Based Training And Learning: The Role Of Referential Connections In Supporting Cognitive Learning Outcomes, Sandro Scielzo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multimedia theory has generated a number of principles and guidelines to support computer-based training (CBT) design. However, the cognitive processes responsible for learning, from which these principles and guidelines stem from, are only indirectly derived by focusing on cognitive learning outcome differences. Unfortunately, the effects that cognitive processes have on learning are based on the assumption that cognitive learning outcomes are indicative of certain cognitive processes. Such circular reasoning is what prompted this dissertation. Specifically, this dissertation looked at the notion of referential connections, which is a prevalent cognitive process that is thought to support knowledge acquisition in a multimedia …

Evaluation Of [┬│H]-Sn56, A Novel Sigma-1 Receptor Radioligand, James A. Fishback

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.