Digital Commons Network^™

Students' Perspectives After Participation In A Mandated College Level Alcohol Intervention Program: A Phenomenological Study, Suzanna L. Guizar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol abuse among college students continues to be a significant problem by which the consequences impact the student, their peers, and the university. Although quantitative research with volunteer participants supports the use of enhanced brief motivational interventions and cognitive behavioral skills training in reducing risky drinking behavior (binge drinking), research with mandated students has shown inconsistent findings. The current study is a phenomenological qualitative study exploring the students’ perspectives after attending a mandated college-level alcohol intervention program. Mandated students are students who have been referred to an alcohol intervention as a result of violating an alcohol related policy on campus. …

Teacher Perceptions Of Factors Influencing Their Self-Efficacy With Using One-To-One Technology During Literacy Instruction, Michael Todd Methvin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teacher perceptions of factors that influence their own self-efficacy with using one-to-one technology during literacy instruction were examined through a multi-site, multi-subject case study. An initial survey was administered to determine the self-efficacy level of a group of participants from a school district that was implementing a one-to-one technology initiative. From this initial data set, four participants with varying levels of self-efficacy were invited to participate in the second, qualitative, phase of the data collection process to better understand factors they perceived to influence these levels. Results revealed that teachers perceived their self-efficacy of one-to-one technology use during literacy instruction …

The Technological Singularity: An Ideological Critique, Phillip Stephens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Technological Singularity represents a confluence of techno-cultural narratives of progress in which the projected exponential growth of artificial intelligence and nanotechnology will usher in a moment of irrevocable change for the human race – a change that many claim is scant decades away. Although the concept saw its modern clarification by science fiction author Vernor Vinge, the Singularity sits astride both fictional and nonfictional narratives of the future. It is the aim of this study to explore the ideological discourses that emerge from texts on the Singularity and the unfathomable posthuman future it ushers in. Doing so reveals how …

Reducing Multiple Access Interference In Broadband Multi-User Wireless Networks, Ali Nayef Alqatawneh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is devoted to developing multiple access interference (MAI) reduction techniques for multi-carrier multi-user wireless communication networks.

In multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) systems, a full multipath diversity can be achieved by transmitting one symbol over multiple orthogonal subcarriers by means of spreading codes. However, in frequency selective fading channels, orthogonality among users can be destroyed leading to MAI. MAI represents the main obstacle to support large number of users in multi-user wireless systems. Consequently, MAI reduction becomes a main challenge when designing multi-carrier multi-user wireless networks. In this dissertation, first, we study MC-CDMA systems with different existing …

Outside The Lines Of Gilded Age Baseball: Profits, Beer, And The Origins Of The Brotherhood War, Robert Allan Bauer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1890, members of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players elected to secede from the National League and form their own organization, which they called the Players League. The players objected to several business practices of the National League, including aspects of the reserve clause in player contracts, the Brush Classification Plan to control their salaries, the buying and selling of players, and fines for various infractions. This dissertation explains how these events combined to produce the revolt by the players at the conclusion of the 1889 season. It also examines various other important aspects of 1880s baseball, including …

Surface Modification Of Noble Metal Nanostructures Toward Biomedical Applications, Samir V. Jenkins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Noble metal nanostructures have seen a steady increase in biomedical application over the last several decades; new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities are under intense investigation. Many of these applications are possible because of post-synthetic modifications to the particle surface. These modifications take a variety of forms and can significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of these particles. In this work, various surface modifications were investigated. Particle agglomeration, which occurs when particle surfaces remain in contact, can significantly affect the toxicity and efficacy of a nanomedicine. Darkfield microscopy and single-particle ICP-MS were developed as complementary methods to detect agglomeration in blood, with the …

A Social Marketing Plan For The Arkansas Miracle League, Abby Stuart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Miracle League is a baseball league specially designed to allow disabled children, teens, and adults have the same opportunity to play baseball as able-bodied individuals on a field specifically designed to accommodate all disabilities. This thesis offers the Miracle League of Arkansas a specified Social marketing plan. In order to assist Miracle League in the acquisition of new players, volunteers, and donors, research was compiled and conducted to implement a successful Social marketing plan for the spring 2016 Miracle League season. This Social marketing plan gives Miracle League recommendations on how to appeal to parents of potential Miracle League players, …

Socially Constructing Drug Addicts From The Poor: A Critical Discourse Analysis, Kalynn Susan Amundson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Welfare drug testing was authorized by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, and has subsequently garnered extensive legislative interest in numerous states. This policy raises several questions, which are the subjects of the two journal articles and one manuscript included in this dissertation.

The first article addresses the question of a possible confluence of War on Drugs and Welfare Reform policies as evidenced through welfare drug testing policy, and indicated by continuity in policymakers’ rhetoric. This study examines federal-level policymakers’ debate discourse in these two policy streams. The analysis finds themes of the Social pathology, …

The Many Faces Of Cleopatra: How Performance And Characterization Change Cleopatra In Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Legend Of Good Women," William Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of Antony And Cleopatra, And John Dryden's All For Love; Or, The World Well Lost, Rebecca Piazzoni Chatham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and John Dryden presented the character of Cleopatra differently, through both the written language of their pieces and their own and others’ performances of her, in order to meet the demands of their respective audiences and performance conditions. Chaucer, in “The Legend of Cleopatra,” portrays and performs Cleopatra comically. Shakespeare, in his Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, characterizes Cleopatra as a complex woman. In All for Love; or, The World Well Lost, Dryden characterizes Cleopatra as sentimental, but the performance of her on stage by female actresses added depth to the role. For Chaucer and Dryden, …

Designing Fret Assays To Study Electrostatic Interactions Pertaining To The Binding Of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Ashley Ann Howard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fibroblast growth factor receptor plays a major role in several biological processes. Without FGFR, a human cannot live. FGFR is involved in cell differentiation and wound healing. Of course, if FGFR signaling becomes unregulated, it causes severe distress in the body. Several cancers are contributed to high signaling levels, as well as developmental conditions like rickets and Kallmann’s syndrome. FGFR is thought to undergo an auto-inhibition (or self-regulatory) process in order to try to facilitate regulation. The exact method of this inhibition is currently unknown, but is proposed to involve the unstructured acid box region of FGFR. We developed a …

Static And Dynamical Properties Of Ferroelectrics And Related Material In Bulk And Nanostructure Forms, Zhigang Gui

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ferroelectrics (FE) and multiferroics (MFE) have attracted a lot of attentions due to their rich and novel properties. Studies towards FE and MFE are of both fundamental and technological importance. We use a first-principles-based effective Hamiltonian method, conventional ab-initio packages and linear-scale three-dimension fragment method to investigate several important issues about FE and MFE. Tuning the properties of FE and MFE films are essential for miniaturized device applications, which can be realized through epitaxial strain and growth direction. In this dissertation, we use the effective Hamiltonian method to study (i) BaTiO 3 films grown along the (110) pseudocubic direction on …

Improved Methods For Identifying, Applying, And Verifying Industrial Energy Efficiency Measures, Andrew Chase Harding

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Energy efficiency is the least expensive source of additional energy capacity for today's global energy expansion. Energy efficiency offers additional benefits of cost savings for consumers, reduced environmental impacts, and enhanced energy security. The challenges of energy efficiency include identifying potential efficiency measures, quantifying savings, determining cost effectiveness, and verifying savings of installed measures. This thesis presents three separate chapters which address these challenges. The first is a paper presented at the 2014 industrial energy technology conference (IETC) that details a compressed air system project using the systems approach to identify cost effective measures, energy intensity to project savings, and …

The Life You've Seen: The Search For Feminine Identity Ruined My Life, Cambry Lace Pierce

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Life You've Seen: The Search For Feminine Identity Ruined My Life is a video installation created through the exploration for the search for identity, specifically female, in my personal work and in the art world for over sixty years. The videos, depicting myself in costume, display twenty different personas and scenarios created to expose the futility of this ongoing search through exposing the traditional ways in which forces such as nature, biology, heredity, and cultural constructs have been used in attempts to define "self." The installation format of the work, a wall of decades old television sets, and the …

Breaking Wind, Todd William Pentico

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breaking Wind is a research project and thesis exhibition composed of a series of ceramic objects in conjunction with paintings that explore the systems that dictate belief, the motives that drive curiosity, and biological connection to our surroundings. The work uses the context of the gallery and devices used in museums such as plinths, shelves, and wall text to reinforce the idealized and fictive into something believable.

In the work, Breaking Wind refers to a clumsy breakdown and rethinking of the seemingly simple natural phenomenon, wind. Wind is understood as a natural occurrence that has no origin or any innate …

Stable Isotopes As A Tool To Characterize Carbon Cycling And Develop Hydrologic Budgets In Mantled Karst Settings, Katherine Knierim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Isotopes of water (δ2H/δ18O), carbon dioxide (δ13C-CO2), and dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13C-DIC) were used to explore water quality, trace carbon cycling, and quantify recharge sources through mantled karst and into Blowing Spring Cave (BSC). Of the possible sources of contamination in the BSC recharge area, septic-tank effluent was hypothesized to degrade water quality at the spring outlet of BSC because of the dominance of septic tanks for waste treatment, unsuitable topography and soil for septic-tank absorption fields, increased nitrate and chloride concentrations concomitant with increased urbanization, and increased Escherichia coli with discharge. Carbon cycling between the soil and BSC was …

What's Left Over, Bryanna Jaramillo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The MFA thesis exhibition titled, What's Left Over, is comprised of a series of drawings as well as a large painted sculptural installation assembled as a child's fantasy world. The work explores the roots of creativity through the lens of childhood play by assembling an invented world named Lola. By exploring the relationship between the real and the imaginary, the work manifests childhood memories into a form that can be studied and better understood. Lola is an elaborate but clearly handmade world that explores an unresolved past.

Development Of Best Management Practices For Turbidity Control During Rainfall Events At Highway Construction Sites Using Polyacrylamide, Joanne Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2009, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated a national turbidity standard for runoff water leaving highway construction sites at 280 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU). Meeting this standard can be challenging as turbidities of runoff waters can exceed 15,000 NTU. The objective of this research was to assess polyacrylamide (PAM), a coagulant aid used in water treatment, to help meet the EPA turbidity regulation. Twelve commercially available PAM types were studied, selected on the basis of charge type (cationic, nonionic, anionic), charge density (0-100%), and molecular weight (0.1-28 Mg mol-1). Jar tests were conducted with runoff waters from …

Noise., Laura Katherine Polaski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research is in the realm of the psychological, the emotional and way these drives manifest physically. The works in Noise. aims to give a physical representation to the non-physical. Research on Affect Theory and the teachings of Silvan Tomkins were paramount to understanding emotional drives and the ways in which they manifest.

The purpose of this research is to understand how emotions are generated and communicated and to ask if specific emotions can be generated upon viewing inanimate objects. I create abstract figurative sculpture, which imitate emotion that has no specific physicality. These works exist with one foot in …

The Artist: An Unexpected Journey, Jason Matthew Shipman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an effort to better understand the process of an actor. It contains documentation of my thesis performance along with materials such as a statement of artistry, my current headshot, an up to date resume, and a link to my professional website.

Seasons Of Humanity In William Shakespeare's "As You Like It": The Costume Design Thesis Of "As You Like It", Cayla D. Greer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents the design and build of the University of Arkansas production of As You Like It in the spring of 2014 in the University Theatre. It follows the development of the costume designs from initial costume sketches to completed costumes for a fully mounted stage production. The costume design process detailed here includes a script analysis, costume sketches and renderings, a detailed description and evaluation of the process.

Landscape Visibility And Prehistoric Artifact Distribution At Pea Ridge National Military Park, Jake Lee Mitchael

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pea Ridge National Military Park, in the north east corner of Benton County, Arkansas, is the 4,300 acre site of a crucial Civil War Battle. Human occupation of the Ozark Highland landscape, however, extends far into pre-history. A 2005 report to the National Park Service details the findings of a four year cultural resource survey of the park. The sampling strategy employed in the research design (random sample site selection and 2.5% park coverage) provides an excellent dataset to assess prehistoric land use. This dataset is not dependent on artificially defined sites, representing singular activity in a limited geographical space. …

An Actor's Trust, Nathaniel Arthur Stahlke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a reflection of an actor's learned ability to trust ones self and to trust the process, following three years of intense training. It consists of my statement of artistry, documentation of my thesis project and performance, as well as my future professional development materials.

A Case Study Of Landau Kleffner Syndrome: A Look At Strategies, Experiences, Challenges, And Perceptions Of Teachers, Family, And Support Personnel, George Mathenge Wairungu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is an unprecedented increase of rare low-incident severe disabilities in today's classroom. Some of them pose classroom management challenges due to concomitantly appearing behavior challenges. Landau Kleffner Syndrome is one such disability. It was cited for the first time in 1957 (Zhang, & Gregory, 2010) and is characterized by a typical language and cognitive growth that retrogresses after three to nine years of age (O'Hare, 2008). Behavioral regression is exhibited by students being physically and verbally aggressive (Ekinci, Isik, & Melek, 2012). Children also depict abnormal electroencephalographic (EEG) traits, especially when sleeping (Slyke, 2002). Other concomitant characteristics include attention …

Local Modulation And Measurement Of Macrophage-Derived Bioactive Proteins From Implanted Biomaterials In Rat, Geetika Bajpai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fibrosis around the implanted medical devices is a severe problem that can plague long-term device reliability. Activation of macrophage phenotype (macrophage polarization) has emerged as a new and possible means for reducing fibrosis in the fields of biomaterials and regenerative medicine. Macrophages are phagocytic cells that respond to microenvironmental cues that direct their phenotype. Macrophage activation has been widely studied in mouse and human in the context of tumor biology, yet little information is available regarding how macrophage activation could be used in a biomaterials context. Further, rats rather than mice are the common subjects in biomaterials experiments. A significant …

The Ballistics Of Archaic North American Atlatls And Darts, Devin Brent Pettigrew

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Preserved atlatls and darts, commonly of small size, have been found across North America from the Early to Late Archaic. Close replications of these systems were employed in a naturalistic experiment on a fresh hog carcass. The use of high-speed cameras, a radar gun, and a video analysis program to measure dart velocity and view impacts in slow motion allowed a detailed analysis of the results. The experiment captured several details about atlatl and dart ballistics, including killing potential, the effects of point beveling on dart flight and impact, traceable impact damage on bones and stone points, and the effectiveness …

Assessing Vocabulary Of Children: Investigating The Evaluation And Instruction Of Basic Concepts, Rebecca Elizabeth Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vocabulary knowledge of preschool children is a key factor in predicting literacy success in elementary school (Hammer, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2010). However, few deliberate attempts to teach basic concept vocabulary have been studied (Bowers & Schwarz, 2013; Wilson, 2004). The purpose of this research is to determine if large group explicit instruction with interactive activities of specific basic concept vocabulary will increase preschool children's understanding of basic concept terms when measured by a standardized basic concept assessment. This research will also assess the validity of a basic concept-curriculum based measure (BC-CBM) as an efficient tool to monitor a child's understanding …

Homelessness In Arkansas, Nichelle Sullivan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to reveal a realistic narrative about homelessness in Arkansas through the qualitative perspective provided by people directly affected by homelessness. We interviewed experts with both theoretical and applied experience in examining the causes and different pathways into homelessness, as well as some of the avenues that can assist someone to successfully navigate out of homelessness. This research documentary focuses particularly on the experiences of homeless families headed by single women and the challenges they face in resolving homelessness. Qualitative interviews were performed and a website was created that is targeted towards helping others to find the necessary …

Long-Term Impact Of Teacher Training For Mexican English-Language Teachers, Rochelle Keogh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term impact of the Summer Workshop for English Teachers. Moving beyond participant satisfaction surveys and even measures of participant learning outcomes, this project sought to describe the ways that teachers implemented their program training after returning to Mexico and what affect that had in their classrooms, their schools, and the wider English-teaching community. I surveyed 203 former Summer Workshop participants and conducted focus group interviews with 18 more who attended the professional development training at a U.S. host institution between 2002 and 2013. The data showed that the participants were using …

A Phenomenological Study Of National Distinguished Elementary And Middle School Principals From The Class Of 2010, Michael John Dawson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the leadership experiences and perspectives of five National Distinguished Elementary Principals (NDPs) from the Class of 2010 serving in the Midwest region of the United States. Specifically, the study investigated the application and selection process of recognition as an NDP, their views of school leadership, and their perception of best professional practices. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher used semistructured phone interviews and analyzed National Distinguished Principal application essays. The required essays focused on balancing leadership and management, promoting parent involvement, supporting and challenging learners, and advancing a positive culture. The …

Experimental Verification And Integration Of A Next Generation Smart Power Management System, Tavis Clemmer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the increase in energy demand by the residential community in this country and the diminishing fossil fuel resources being used for electric energy production there is a need for a system to efficiently manage power within a residence. The Smart Green Power Node (SGPN) is a next generation energy management system that automates on-site energy production, storage, consumption, and grid usage to yield the most savings for both the utility and the consumer. Such a system automatically manages on-site distributed generation sources such as a PhotoVoltaic (PV) input and battery storage to curtail grid energy usage when the price …