Digital Commons Network^™

The Influence Of Message And Audio Modalities In Augmented Reality Mobile Advertisements On Consumers' Purchase Intention, Jingyue Tao

Master's Theses

Evidence shows that augmented reality (AR) technology is an effective advertising approach to raise a brand’s awareness, so many big brands implement AR into their marketing strategy. However, the effectiveness of AR mobile advertisements on consumers’ purchase intentions remains unclear. To fill this dearth in the literature, this study examined how message and audio modalities of AR mobile advertisements influenced consumers’ purchase intentions by surveying 120 participants in an online experiment. Based on the uses and gratifications perspective, this experiment manipulated the message type (emotional/factual) and audio-verbal appeal (present/absent) of AR advertisements to investigate their impact on consumers’ attitudes towards …

What Remains: The Practice And Presence Of Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Jessica Olivia Yee

Master's Theses

Contradiction has been widely used to describe the work of the artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996); however, it does not fully encapsulate the complexity of the artist’s oeuvre. This thesis turns to the German director Bertolt Brecht’s notion of dialectical theater, which highlights the tensions, struggles, and interplay between contrary tendencies as a way to understand Gonzalez-Torres’s work. When the contradiction that marks the artist’s work is thought of in terms of dialectical theater, it can be better understood as layered and intentional. This thesis examines the necessary dialectical relationship presented in his work through the artist’s employment of theatrical devices …

The Baroque In Games: A Case Study Of Remediation, Stephanie Elaine Thornton

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a case study for the remediation of baroque painting by some contemporary video games. Video games such as Horizon Zero Dawn borrow illusionistic techniques, the motif of the labyrinth, and the use of the total work of art as presented in certain baroque paintings. These characteristics are modified and represented within the new medium in an effort to heighten immediacy and create an immersive experience for the audience. This thesis discusses the process of remediation in detail and then analyzes how video games—and Horizon Zero Dawn in particular—remediate illusionistic techniques like linear and atmospheric perspective. Then, the …

Assessing Methods For Determining Reference Conditions For Riparian Restoration In Santa Clara County, Claire Mallen

Master's Theses

Valley Water is the primary water wholesaler and flood control agency in Santa Clara County, providing services to 1.9 million residents. The operation and maintenance of infrastructure for water supply and flood control often require work within legally protected natural resources such as riparian ecosystems. Riparian ecosystems are dynamic and diverse ecosystems that provide our society with valuable services such as wildlife habitat, water quality, and recreation. However, the threat of human development on native ecosystems has led to the degradation and loss of 85-98% of riparian ecosystems nationwide. Today, federal, state, and regional laws mitigate further impacts to riparian …

Imperial Subjection And The Orientalist Gaze: Turning Asian Women’S Bodies Into Entertainment, Miriam Ahn

Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes the structural factors that provide meaning and space to performances where violence is served as entertainment. What are the structural conditions that turn gendered and racialized violent forms of display into enjoyment? By exploring the sex tourism in Thailand, particularly ping-pong shows, I will analyze aspects of international political economy and feminist studies to address forms of display based on the abjectness of the other. I argue that sex tourism in Thailand is not part of local culture but is upheld by imperial hegemonic perceptions of the colonized and gendered bodies. The perspectives of Orientalism, patriarchal systems, …

Centering Community Voices Through Children's Literature: Co-Authoring An #Ownvoices Picture Book For The Maine Migrant Education Program, Melanie Shelton

Master's Theses

Since its inception, the field of migrant education has been characterized by a tension between honoring the subjectivity of migrant families and positioning them as victims. This same tension exists in the analysis of children’s picture books that depict the daily lives of migrant farmworkers. In response to Eve Tuck’s (2009) call for a moratorium on damage-centered research in the field of education, this report describes the collaboration process between a representative of the Maine Migrant Education Program and a migrant

farmworker and her family to write, illustrate, and present an autobiographical picture book. Las aventuras, travesuras, y peligros del …

The Efficacy Of Intensive Application Of Schuell’S Stimulation Approach For Chronic Wernicke’S Aphasia: An Analysis And Comparison, Callie Ann Marsalisi

Master's Theses

Background: Roughly one million people in the United States are living with aphasia, and Wernicke’s aphasia is the most common fluent type. Few treatment options have been thoroughly research for Wernicke’s aphasia; a major obstacle with these patients is lack of awareness of errors. For persons with aphasia in general, it has been found that more intensive treatments are more effective, as long as the treatment is not overly fatiguing and does not lead to drop-out. One intensive treatment is Schuell’s stimulation approach, which focuses on bombardment of the auditory modality in order to effect improvement across all modalities.

Aims: …

Bobcats Within A Mosaic Of Housing Densities In Connecticut, Kristen Beattie

Master's Theses

Understanding a species’ ability to adapt and persist in a human-dominated landscape is important as urban development continues to spread, resulting in wildlife living in close proximity to people. Mesocarnivores are using urban landscapes, yet differences in habitat selection across a species’ range and among urban areas are beginning to emerge. Bobcats are a strict mesocarnivore species that is considered sensitive to fragmentation and intolerant of human activity yet is now living within densely populated areas in some regions. An important first step in understanding bobcat habitat use throughout a range of housing densities is understanding how the effectiveness of …

Nf-Κb Subunits P50 And Rela Contribute To Oncogenesis In A Mouse Model Of St-Epn, Ericka J. Randazzo

Master's Theses

The NF- κB pathway has been demonstrated to be upregulated in supratentorial ependymoma (ST-EPN). Whether the different NF- κB transcription factors contribute to ST-EPN tumorigenesis however, has not been investigated. We assessed the degree to which NF- κB subunits p50 and RelA interact with the ST-EPN fusion mutation C11orf95-RELA in regulating gene expression via colocalization analysis in Hek293T cell nuclei. We analyzed the functional outcomes of overexpression of p50 or RelA, or CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockdown of p50, in combination with the C11orf95-RELA fusion in vivo by examination of tumor area in P14 – 21 CD1 mice. We further analyzed the …

Mirroring Antagonistic And Mutualistic Interactions Give Rise To Shifts In Network Architecture Among Hummingbirds, Phoretic Mites, And Tropical Flowers, Laura Bizzarri

Master's Theses

Interaction networks among plants and animals are important determinants of the stability of ecological communities. Historically, researchers have considered interaction networks in isolation, and characterized the structures of the interactions within such networks, and how these structures can affect community stability. Such studies have identified unique structures attributable to different interactions, such as mutualisms (e.g. pollination) and antagonisms (e.g. herbivory). My thesis explores a tropical system in which all interacting guilds are directly connected. Mutualistic hummingbird-plant pollination networks are connected to antagonistic nectar robbing mite-plant networks, via phoresy. Because phoretic mites must hitchhike on hummingbirds to colonize flowers, we aim …

Genome-Wide Rnai Screen Of Kinase Pathways Regulating Rrt-1 Constitutive Cytoprotective Gene Expression, Jacob Bowie

Master's Theses

Environmental stress disrupts cellular homeostasis leading to proteostasis disruptions which must be correct by rapid reprogramming of transcription and translation mediated by the translation machinery of which tRNA and aminoacyl tRNA synthetases are particularly important. Our aim in this study was to conduct a genome-wide RNAi kinase screen of a long-lived and stress-resistant rrt-1(gc47) (MC240) C. elegans mutant that constitutively, under naïve conditions, expresses a GFP reporter for gpdh-1, which is required for survival during hypertonic stress, but not expressed under naïve, non-stress conditions. Our approach was to administer RNAi by feeding, and we used 382 RNAi clones, including genome-wide …

Piggybac Transposon-Based Lineage Tracing To Reveal Ependymogenesis, Tasnuva Nuhat Shafin

Master's Theses

The lateral walls of the lateral ventricle of the brain are home to one of the two main neurogenic niches of the postnatal and adult mammalian brain, the ventricular-subventricular zone (V-SVZ). During late embryonic development (E14 to E16 in mouse brain), a subpopulation of radial glial cells from the neuroepithelial lining of lateral ventricle wall starts ependymogenesis to establish an ependymal cell lining of the ventricular system. Ependymal cell maturation and ciliogenesis continues after birth and the remaining radial glia, designated neural stem cells after birth, are established within the ependymal lining by retention of a thin apical process. The …

Waves Of Binding: Neural Oscillations Of Visual, Auditory, And Lexical Integration, Hannah Morrow

Master's Theses

If our conceptual knowledge about concrete objects is represented (in part) across the brain regions that are active when those objects are perceived, how is information from those regions integrated, or “bound” into a coherent whole? One potential mechanism for binding is synchronized neuronal firing. In particular, high-frequencies (e.g., gamma) may support local interactions, while lower frequencies (e.g., theta) may support longer-range interactions. Previous work has implicated the role of gamma and theta in binding, but not testing both on the same paradigm with a condition intended to create more cortical distance. We recorded participants’ EEG while they were presented …

Convergence And Historical Contingency In The Evolution Of Lingual Prey Capture Systems In Lizards, Amanda E. Hewes

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Mir-433-3p Negatively Regulates Bone Formation And Targets Critical For Osteoblast Function, John Garcia

Master's Theses

Osteoblastic differentiation is tightly controlled by multiple signaling pathways associated with key transcription factors, as well as a number of microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that function in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. While clinical strategies to combat the reduction in bone density have often centered on impeding further bone resorption, this strategy neglects to promote bone formation, a component which is particularly problematic in the aging population. miRNAs could serve to bridge that gap, as potential therapeutic candidates. Several studies have established that miRNAs can direct osteoprogenitors towards an osteoblastic lineage through modulation of Wnt, MAPK, …

Pre-Surgery Leptin Level And Weight Loss In Female Bariatric Surgery Patients, Miriam Katz

Master's Theses

Background: Improving weight loss after bariatric surgery remains a clinical concern. An unstudied factor is the role of leptin, the appetite control hormone, as a pre-surgical predictor of weight loss. High serum levels, often seen in obesity, are an indicator of leptin resistance as the brain no longer responds to satiety signaling.

Methods: Leptin levels were ascertained in female bariatric patients (n=28) prior to surgery at a large tertiary care hospital. We calculated Pearson Correlation Coefficients (r) and unstandardized β coefficients using multivariate linear regression. Primary outcome: Percent Excess Weight Loss (%EWL) evaluated at 6- and 12-months post-surgery. …

The Effects Of Agricultural Management On Wetland Birds, Theresa Wisneskie

Master's Theses

With the rapid growth of the human population, there is a need to balance biodiversity conservation with achieving food security. Increasing agricultural inputs has greatly augmented food production on smaller areas of land, but generally has negative effects on biodiversity. As natural wetlands decline worldwide, birds are increasingly using flooded agricultural land. The objectives of this thesis are (1) to determine what affects the use of flooded agriculture by waterbirds and (2) to determine what has been studied about the effects of agricultural intensification on wetland birds.

I examined the factors affecting the use of flooded agriculture by waterbirds by …

Vidocq, Vautrin, Et La Naissance Du Genre Policier, Carrie Slayton

Master's Theses

Vidocq, Vautrin, et la Naissance du Genre Policier examines how the life of former criminal-turned-chief of the French Sûreté Nationale, Eugène-François Vidocq, was mythicized with his sensational ghost-written memoirs, Mémoires of Vidocq, and in what way his legendary career and memoirs influenced some of the most renowned characters in French literature during the nineteenth century – most notably Honoré de Balzac’s infamous criminal-turned-police chief, Vautrin, in the Comédie Humaine. This study aims to demonstrate how the paradigm that was created by the combination of his Mémoires and his first literary incarnation, Balzac’s Vautrin, went on to establish the archetype …

The Necessity Of Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein Expression By Ng2 Glia For Maintenance Of Glial And Neuronal Health, Robert Horning

Master's Theses

NG2 glia are vital for the myelination of axons in the brain and spinal cord. Many NG2 cells receive synaptic inputs from neurons through neurotransmitters such as glutamate and GABA, but the consequences of this input have remained unclear. Interestingly, NG2 cells express voltage-dependent Ca²⁺ channels and transcripts encoding SNARE proteins that are necessary for vesicle docking in neurons. We therefore hypothesized that NG2 cells respond to neuronal synaptic inputs by releasing bioactive molecules in a Ca²⁺-dependent manner. To test this, we generated double transgenic mice in which a cre-inducible botulinum toxin (BoNT/B) is constitutively expressed by …

A Serial Multiplexed Approach To Immunolabeling Brain Tissue For Electron Microscopy, Peter Tiley

Master's Theses

To fully understand how biological systems give rise to complex phenomena, both structural and functional knowledge of the components in the system must be acquired. In this manuscript, I explain why new methods must be developed to achieve this level of understanding with brain tissue and introduce serial multiplexing as a potential solution. I discuss how this method can lead to highly annotated volume reconstructions of brain tissue using electron and light microscopy, along with the steps required to do so. I present what our lab has found throughout the process of adapting, refining, and combining more traditional methods together …

Associations Of Cardiovascular Health, Strength, And Physical Activity In Participants With A History Of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Kirsten Allen

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Sources And Fluxes Of Reactive N In A Southern New England River, Veronica Rollinson

Master's Theses

Little Narraganset Bay has seen an increase in filamentous algae, colloquially known as cladophora, over the past twenty years. The Pawcatuck River is the dominant input of freshwater to Little Narraganset bay, delineating the Connecticut and Rhode Island border. There are three point sources of nitrogen on the river system: two waste water treatment facilities (WWTF) in the estuary and one fabric processing plant within the upper-watershed in Kenyon, RI. Non-point sources include a myriad of farms specializing in turf and animal husbandry, as well as septic systems for the majority of the watershed that are not serviced by the …

Innovation Dynamics Of Cultural Production: Evidence In Rap Lyrics, James M. Zumel Dumlao, Junjie Lei, Emeka Nwosu, Li Yu Oon, Tsai Ling Jeffrey Wong, James Rising, Jesse Anttila-Hughes

Master's Theses

Culture is a driving force in organizing the structure of societies, and is conjoined with economic development. However, quantifying the impact of culture is difficult. Culture manifests itself in cultural production, through art, performance, music, etc. Innovation and influence in cultural production industries partially determines product quality. Using techniques from the “digitized humanities”, we agnostically identify informational distance to describe the spatiotemporal dynamics of innovation and influence in Rap music lyrics. Rap emphasizes lyricism and hometown pride more than other genres of popular music, and is interesting as a globally impactful manifestation of the racially segregated labor market in the …

Actors As Engineers: The Reconstruction Of Antifascism In Defa Films, 1949-1961. [2020], Jonathan Herr

Master's Theses

The East German film industry (led by state film company DEFA) had, since its inception in 1946, focused heavily upon the theme of antifascism. However, the meaning and definition of antifascism changed dramatically over the course of East Germany’s early history. In DEFA’s earliest days, antifascism was a confrontation of Germany’s Nazi past and argued that capitalism was a forebearer to fascism. As the East German state formed, antifascism evolved, casting America and its unchecked capitalism as the enemy to democracy. Here DEFA films still confronted Germany’s dark past, though the end goal of the films was to promote hope …

Camagu: A Multimovement Work Exploring The Isixhosa Culture Of South Africa, Nkululeko Zungu

Master's Theses

The IsiXhosa language of South Africa is a rich historic language that has been preserved aurally through generations. The distinct clicks in this language, made in the mouth, are a characteristic spoken feature. Although IsiXhosa follows the Roman alphabet, individual letters require the pronunciation of different clicks, each having a different sound quality. These particular sounds will change depending on the interaction of the tongue and teeth within the mouth. Alongside this rich historic language is the practice of herbal healing, performed by individuals called Sangomas. A Sangoma’s primary goal is to communicate with the ancestors and to provide spiritual …

Does Population Density Affect The Singing Behavior Of Female Canyon Wrens (Catherpes Mexicanus)?, Lorraine Dargis

Master's Theses

Bird song has historically been considered from the perspective of temperate males despite females in many bird species being prolific singers. In this study, I investigated one species with female song, the canyon wren (Catherpes mexicanus). Canyon wrens do not duet like many other species with female song or other wrens. Instead, males and females sing sex-specific songs. The resource defense function of male canyon wren song is well-described, and males sing often during the breeding season. Females have only been observed to sing sporadically during the breeding season but sing reliably and often when exposed to playback of other …

Maturation Spawning And Larviculture Of Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias Undulatus) At Low Salinity, Edithrose Fairweather

Master's Theses

Atlantic Croaker is a popular baitfish among anglers targeting a variety of gamefish in the Gulf of Mexico. Aquaculture of this species could help meet the demand for Croaker, especially during winter when wild-caught Croaker are unavailable. Currently, Croaker aquaculture involves broodstock maturation, spawning, and larval culture at high salinity. This protocol prevents the direct use of coastal water for culture along the Mississippi Gulf coast where salinity is low. This study examined the feasibility of performing hatchery production of Atlantic Croaker at low salinity.

Culture of Croaker broodstock at 10, 20, and 30 psu during the maturation period was …

Malaria Risk On Ancient Roman Roads: A Study And Application To Assessing Travel Decisions In Asia Minor By The Apostle Paul, Daniel C. Browning Jr

Master's Theses

This study models malaria risks for travelers on ancient Roman roads with the goal of providing a tool for historical assessment of travel accounts from antiquity. The project includes: identification of malaria risk factors and associated spatial datasets, malaria risk model construction, verification and validation against available pre-eradication data, overlay of ancient Roman road data, and an initial case-study application to the journeys of the Apostle Paul, as narrated in the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles (Acts). The project is intentionally cross-disciplinary in bringing the technical capabilities of GIS to the task of evaluating nuanced textual sources for …

An Analysis Of Dredge Efficiency For Surfclam And Ocean Quahog Commercial Dredges, Leanne Poussard

Master's Theses

Between 1997 and 2011, The National Marine Fisheries Service conducted 50 depletion experiments to estimate survey gear efficiency and stock density for Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) and ocean quahog (Arctica islandica) populations using commercial hydraulic dredges. The Patch Model was formulated to estimate gear efficiency and organism density from the data. The range of efficiencies estimated is substantial, leading to uncertainty in the application of these estimates in stock assessment. Analysis of depletion experiment simulations showed that uncertainty in the estimates of gear efficiency from depletion experiments was reduced by higher numbers of dredge tows per experiment, more tow overlap …

Effects Of Exercise On Myogenic Regulatory Factors In Cancer Cachexia-Induced Skeletal Muscle Wasting, Kelsey Daehlin

Master's Theses

Cancer cachexia is a complex multiorgan syndrome that affects bodily systems such as liver, brain, fat tissue, and skeletal muscle. It is a major factor that decreases quality of life in cancer patients and is related to about 20% of cancer deaths, however exercise has shown to be effective in helping combat the muscle wasting effects that cancer cachexia has on the body. Cachexia characterized by skeletal muscle wasting which may be caused by downregulation of positive myogenic regulatory factors such as MyoD and myogenin, and upregulation of negative myogenic regulatory factors such as myostatin and MuRF-1. While it is …