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Poor Relations: An Original Play By Robert Flaherty Hart, Robert Flaherty Hart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to present my play, Poor Relations, to my thesis committee and discuss both the process of bringing it to the stage and the results of that process.

The dissertation opens with a narrative essay detailing the process of writing Poor Relations and bringing it to the stage in a full production. It discusses my initial idea for the play, the original draft and changes made after input from those at informal readings. It pays particular attention to the changes that were made during the rehearsal process for the full production.

Following is a copy …

The Educational Benefits Of Cultural Institutions, Brian Kisida

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A significant portion of the education children receive occurs outside of the traditional classroom and produces outcomes not typically captured by standardized achievement tests. This dissertation is part of an effort to expand the educational venues and outcomes educational researchers rigorously examine. In particular, I present the key results from experimental studies of the effects of school tours to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR., and to the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, AR.

Chapter 1 focuses on arts exposure and critical thinking outcomes. A problem for the arts’ role in education has been a …

Preventive Maintenance Decision Modeling In Health And Service Systems, Mahboubeh Madadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the preventive maintenance decision modeling in healthcare and service systems. In the first part of this dissertation, some issues in preventive health decisions for breast cancer are addressed, and in the second part, the required characteristics for preventive maintenance of an unreliable queuing system are derived.

Adherence to cancer screening is the first issue that is addressed in this dissertation. Women’s adherence or compliance with mammography screening remained low in the recent years. In this dissertation, we first develop a design-based logistic regression model to quantify the probability of adherence to screening schedules based on women’s …

Production And Characterization Of Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Using Recombinant Technology, Emilio Duverna

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) also called amylin is an amyloid-forming protein; IAPP is a proteinaceous hormone that comprises 37 amino acid residues. It is secreted along with insulin from the pancreatic β-cells to help it regulate the uptake and removal of glucose in the bloodstream. IAPP has been observed in the amyloid deposits found in pancreatic β-cells of most patients suffering from type II diabetes mellitus. This research project aims at producing recombinant amylin peptide. To achieve this goal, we used the pBAD plasmid vector which we introduced into Escherichia coli to express the peptide. Although the vector was successfully …

Information Propagation In Financial Markets, Garrett A. Mcbrayer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays which examine information flows through financial markets and across firms, and investigates the factors affecting the process of information dissemination. The first essay examines whether the announcement of a credit rating change for a given firm contains information pertinent to the valuations of intra-industry peer firms. I identify an information spillover effect on peer firms surrounding credit rating downgrades. Further, I find that the post-announcement spillover effects are indicative of an overreaction in the market’s response to the downgrade announcement. Peer firms exhibit predictability in their post-announcement returns as a function of their relative …

A Search For Understanding Why Male, Long Term High School Dropouts Resist Returning To Complete A Secondary Credential, Robert S. Mcgowan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Much of the resistance for returning to education seems to be related to the same reasons students left school to begin with. The reason for dropping out and resisting to return to school may be a result of too much emphasis on academic preparation and too little emphasis on satisfying the perceived needs for preparing a youth for adulthood. Four themes emerged from the field-note based interviews: (1) all students do not learn the same way, (2) there is a need for more participatory learning, (3) learning should be relevant to life as perceived by the student, and (4) there …

Creating Quality Metrics For The Capital Facilities Delivery Industry, Kelsey D. Lamb

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A standard for industry-wide quality metrics, similar to safety metrics, for the capital facilities delivery industry is investigated and developed with the goal to motivate industry-wide adoption of this new quality metric program. A survey of the literature found key differences between capital facilities and other industries, mainly that other industries focus on the quality of the product while capital facilities focus on maintaining the cost and schedule of a project. Creating a framework that can be used across the industry can potentially lead to uniform improvement of quality for the entire industry. Quality is defined for the capital facilities …

Effect Of Nitrogen Fertilizer Rates And Two-Spotted Spider Mite Incidence On 'Strawberry Festival' Strawberry Cultivar Performance, Megan E. Mcgovern

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The decline in strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) production in Arkansas over the last 50 years has sparked an interest in the use of season extension techniques to improve yield and fruit quality. High tunnel strawberry production has the potential to become a profitable and sustainable production system; however, information on nutrient and pest management is limited.

The overall objective of this study was to determine the response of ‘St. Festival’ strawberry cultivar to different nitrogen fertilizer rates in order to develop a fertilization program for strawberries grown under high tunnel production systems. Experiments were conducted at the University of …

“Maybe It Was You”: The Implications Of Southern Gothic Elements Of Criminality, Sexuality, And Race In Truman Capote’S In Cold Blood, Shirley Ellen Rash

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is frequently the subject of critical analysis of its genre, its factual accuracy, and its style. Previous critical examinations of the text often briefly acknowledged the thematic connections between this text and Capote’s previous southern gothic work but do so without substantially delving into these similarities. For many, the text’s Kansas setting prevents the book from properly being considered southern gothic because Kansas is commonly perceived as the most quintessentially wholesome and American of states while the U.S. South is frequently deemed the site of taboo and undesirable activity. This thesis questions this dichotomy and …

The Acclimation Processes For New, First-Time Presidents At Public, Master’S-Level Comprehensive Institutions: Lessons Learned, Mark Allan Kinders

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to learn the acclimation practices of new, first-time presidents at regional, public comprehensive institutions. An original survey conducted from January through March, 2015, was completed by 61 new CEOs for a 59% response rate. They reported numerous activities that were helpful to learn their organization so as to become sufficiently comfortable in their understanding of campus culture, governance processes, operational practices, regional partners, and state policy climate to lead their organizations forward. With experience they learned that acclimation took longer than they expected. The study found higher rates of female or minority CEOs, and …

Effects Of Intervention On Self-Regulated Learning For Second Language Learners, Lu Yu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of the study were to investigate the process of self-regulated learning and the effects of an intervention program on self-regulated learning designed for second language (L2) learners. 120 participants who were sophomores majoring in English education at a university in an Asian country were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or control group. The self-regulated learning intervention was composed of six weekly two-hour training sessions that focus on five main variables of self-regulatory process: goal setting, self-efficacy, time and study environment management, language learning strategies, and attribution. The operation of self-regulated learning processes in the context of …

Basic Counseling Techniques Training: The Differential Effects Of Two Models On Skill Development And Fully Functioning, Christopher Loyd Carver

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of two models of basic counseling skill training on the development of fully functioning, and the frequency of basic skill utilization as assessed at the end of the course. Two groups of students were taught using the Carkhuff Human Resource Development model (1971) and Egan’s Skilled Helper model (2002). They were then given the Strathclyde inventory to assess fully functioning early and at the end of the semester, and skill frequency count was conducted on all participants. Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests were conducted to determine difference between groups in both measures. Additionally, …

Economic Literacy: Measuring The Economic Human Capital Of Arkansas K-12 Teachers, June Marie Freund

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Economic literacy is recognized as a deficit quality in the United States, no more prevalent than during the last great recession. It is paramount the K-12 educational system lead the movement to educate the public on economic content and issues, as it is the one institution that has direct contact with all citizens. The question then must be asked, how economic literate are teachers entrusted with the responsibility of imparting economic knowledge to his/her K-12 grade level student. A sample of Arkansas teachers at each grade level K – 12 were tested using national normed economic literacy tests designed to …

The Impact Of Knowledge And Gender On Young Adults' Perceptions Regarding Beer And Food Pairings, Dylan Conrad Martinez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food and wine pairings are commonly seen among empirical research. Minimal research exists concerning beer and food pairings, yet food analysts are taking note of higher rates of beer and food pairings occurring. As such, these exploratory studies examine young adults’, experts’ and novices’ knowledge of beer and food pairings along with gender differences and sensory pairing of beer and chocolate. A survey was used to identify both subjective and objective knowledge along with a test to determine appropriateness of expert and novice choices. It was found that males had greater objective knowledge of beer and food pairing than females, …

Lidar And Machine Learning Estimation Of Hardwood Forest Biomass In Mountainous And Bottomland Environments, Bowei Xue

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Light detection and ranging (lidar) has been applied in various forest applications, such as to retrieve forest structural information, to build statistical models for identification of tree species, and to monitor forest growth. However, despite significant progress in these areas, the choice of regression approach and parameter tuning remains an ongoing critical question. This study focused on choosing the right spatial generalization level to transform lidar point clouds to 2D images which can be further processed by mature image processing and pattern recognition approaches. It also compared the prediction ability of popular machine learning algorithms applied to aboveground forest biomass …

A Cross Case Study Of Excellence In Science Fair Program Design, Kimberly Jones Murie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify components of schools with successful science

fair programs. Ideally schools interested in starting or improving their science fair programs could find a way to emulate some of the identified components. Successful was defined by having received recognition on some level at the International Science and Engineering Fair at least nine out of the last ten years. Twelve schools were identified as meeting this definition and five agreed to participate in the study. The schools represented diverse geographic areas as well as types of schools. Included in the study was a private school, …

Food Waste At Retail, Erin G. Killeen Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food waste at retail represents forgone sales and embodies store management and disposal costs. Fresh produce is the largest contributing sector to food waste at retail and bulky, seasonal products are an added challenge when stores experience a high waste event. In order to improve, retailers need to better understand the costs of food waste, as well as how management strategies can impact these costs.

Using pumpkins as an example of bulky, seasonal products, a twofold research project was conducted to better understand contributors to, and costs of food waste at the retail level. In part one, using data from …

Population Structure Of Central Stoneroller (Campostoma Anomalum) On The Ozark Plateau In Arkansas And Missouri, Mallory Jane Jeffers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stream fishes on the Ozark Plateau have been influenced both by historic events (i.e. vicariance versus dispersal) and ecological forces (i.e. flow regime). To examine the role of these processes, genetic structure of Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum), an ecologically important omnivorous minnow with a broad distribution and elevated abundance, was evaluated across populations in the White River drainage of the Ozark Plateau in Arkansas and Missouri. Fin clips of five to eight individuals were taken at each of 20 sites (N=138 individuals; average=6.9), selected so as to represent two different flow regimes: intermittently flashy (N=10 sites; N=73 individuals; average=7.3/ site) …

Automatic User Profile Construction For A Personalized News Recommender System Using Twitter, Shiva Theja Reddy Gopidi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modern society has now grown accustomed to reading online or digital news. However, the huge corpus of information available online poses a challenge to users when trying to find relevant articles. A hybrid system “Personalized News Recommender Using Twitter’ has been developed to recommend articles to a user based on the popularity of the articles and also the profile of the user. The hybrid system is a fusion of a collaborative recommender system developed using tweets from the “Twitter” public timeline and a content recommender system based the user’s past interests summarized in their conceptual user profile. In previous work, …

Effects Of Food Label Education On Consumers' Sensory Perception And Awareness In Chicken Meat, Shilpa Samant

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently, sustainability and process-related label claims have gained immense popularity especially for meat products like chicken. Apart from providing consumers with required product information, these labels have an impact on consumer perception and purchase behavior. The objective of this study was to determine whether providing label information affects consumers’ awareness and attitude toward the claims found on chicken products. Additionally, it was analyzed if enhanced label understanding affects consumers’ sensory and quality perceptions along with purchase intent. A total of 110 participants were randomly distributed into 1 of 3 types of education sessions: (1) reading a flyer (passive learning), (2) …

Fret Study Of Ligand Binding And Exchange Kinetics On The Surface Of Cdse/Zns Quantum Dots, Randee Jean Mcbride

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantum dots are a valuable tool in many research applications and commercial development. Their applications are far reaching and as such have become a topic of great interest. One of their greatest assets is the ability to utilize them as water soluble fluorescent labels. Rendering the nanocrystals water soluble can be accomplished in several ways, but one very popular method is by capping them with water-soluble multi-functional organic ligands. However, these ligands, when attached to the quantum dot surface, are labile and can be exchanged which can be problematic when using the quantum dots in research applications. This projects investigates …

The Spectacle Of Orphanhood: Reimagining Orphans In Postbellum Fiction, Afrin Zeenat

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Orphan iconography has always been deployed in American literature and culture, but nineteenth-century American literature, fiction in particular, abounds in orphans, both real and imaginary. The orphan’s amphibious nature is hailed and demonized as the epitome of individualism and unbridled freedom, and also as the location of society’s anxiety. This complicated and conflicted construction of orphans animates the Social and cultural realm in postbellum America, foregrounding issues of class, race, and gender.

The Effects Of Alcohol On The Interpretation Of Social And Emotional Cues: A Field Study Of College Student Drinking, Emotion Recognition, And Perceptions Of A Hypothetical Sexual Assault, Alexander James Melkonian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use and abuse among emerging adults is highly correlated with increased risk for sexual victimization. Alcohol myopia theory has been used to explain impairments in Social information processing resulting in decreased attention to environmental Social cues including risk factors for sexual assault as well as facial emotional recognition. Those with deficits in Social information processing may be at particular risk for the misperception of salient risk factors for sexual assault by victims, perpetrators, and bystanders when intoxicated. In this naturalistic field study, participants who had been consuming alcohol were recruited to engage in tasks of facial emotion recognition and …

Engineering The Ground State Of Complex Oxides, Derek Joseph Meyers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transition metal oxides featuring strong electron-electron interactions have been at the forefront of condensed matter physics research in the past few decades due to the myriad of novel and exciting phases derived from their competing interactions. Beyond their numerous intriguing properties displayed in the bulk they have also shown to be quite susceptible to externally applied perturbation in various forms. The dominant theme of this work is the exploration of three emerging methods for engineering the ground states of these materials to access both their applicability and their deficiencies.

The first of the three methods involves a relatively new set …

The Comparative Effects Of Hot Yoga And Thermoneutral Yoga On Flexibility, Heart Rate, Sweat Rate, And Mood, Hannah Kirkland Campbell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Yoga is an ancient Indian philosophy, described as a therapeutic intervention and health maintenance practice that unites the mind and body to aid healing through the combination of physical postures, breathing techniques, and meditation. There is ample research regarding yoga practiced in an environment that is thermoneutral, or in an environment that does not alter the metabolic heat production or evaporative heat loss of people. However, minimal research exists on the increasingly popular form of yoga known as hot yoga, or yoga practiced in an environment that is often humidified and 95° F or warmer. This exploratory study compared the …

The Problem Of Epistemically Irrelevant Causal Factors, Derek L. Mcallister

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The problem of epistemically irrelevant causal factors is an epistemological phenomenon that occurs when a person becomes aware of some non-epistemic, causal factor that threatens to adversely influence her present belief, yet this factor is irrelevant to her deliberation concerning that belief. While the problem itself is apparently relatively widespread, very few have given it a detailed analysis. This thesis is one attempt to improve that. The first part, and the bulk, of this thesis is an analysis and explanation of what exactly the problem is and how it differs from nearby, related epistemological phenomena. The second part is my …

Differentiation Revealed: A Multiple-Methods Qualitative Study On The Implementation Of Differentiated Instruction In A Mixed-Ability Elementary Classroom, Curtis James Cunningham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Differentiated instruction as a philosophical approach to teaching has been around for decades. In recent weeks differentiation has come under fire as being an approach to teaching that is simply too difficult for teachers to implement. While teachers may attend a workshop or take a graduate class on the topic of differentiation and choose not to embrace the philosophy, there are also teachers who have successfully implemented differentiation. The argument against differentiation is based on the amount of effort required to simultaneously implement all components of differentiation.

To address these concerns the following question provided guidance for the present multi-method …

An Empirical Water Quality And Best Management Practice Prioritization Model For Select Arkansas Watersheds, James Mccarty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to prioritize subwatersheds using water quality data and watershed characteristics. Water quality data was provided through studies by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Beaver Water District, Arkansas Water Resources Center, and publicly available USGS gage data. A total of 114 sites across five HUC-8 watersheds were analyzed, including 12 USGS gages. Watershed characteristic data was retrieved from USGS and Arkansas GeoStore geodatabase repositories. A significant linear relationship between baseflow and stormflow nutrient concentrations was established allowing for the use of baseflow concentrations in the prioritization methodology. Pearson correlation, linear regression, classification and regression tree, …

Is The Geriatric Impact Ipad Test A Valid Measurement Of Cognitive Function In Older Adults?, Heather Elise O'Dell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of older adults will rapidly increase within the next generation (Brookmeyer, Johnson, Ziegler-Graham, & Arrighi, 2007). Alzheimer’s disease risk increases with age, especially after age 60 (NIA, n.d.). Aging leads to a decrease in functional independence, and this side effect is exacerbated by cognitive decline (Johnson, Lui, & Yaffe, 2007). Executive function is a predictor of Alzheimer’s disease onset and progression (Zhang, Han, Verhaeghen, & Nilsson, 2007). The Geriatric ImPACTTM test is a potential new and more convenient testing methods than traditional methods used. The purpose of this research is to validate the Geriatric ImPACTTM test by comparing …

Three Essays On The Economics Of Foreign Aid, Hongwei Song

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in the issue of foreign aid especially in the context of developmental economics. As foreign aid is designed to help those less-privileged nations with developmental objectives such as poverty reduction and/or economic growth, fundamental questions include whether aid has been effective and what motivates donors to provide aid. This dissertation is composed of three essays that examine different issues concerning foreign aid. First, I focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its impact on aid allocation among sectors. If specification of the MDGs affected aid flows, it should be observed that more …