Digital Commons Network^™

Advertisement Blindness In Social Media Apps, Nora Szladovics

Master's Theses

Advertisement blindness (ad blindness) is a general term that refers to people’s tendency to automatically and unconsciously ignore advertisements. The phenomenon was originally identified in banner ads, then later in text and native ads on websites. Today, social media is an effective tool for advertisers, yet research investigating users’ interaction habits with social media ads in mobile applications (apps) is unexplored. This study expands the ad blindness concept to mobile social media apps, examining its presence and whether target position has an influence. Further, it investigates the relationship between social media use and ad blindness. Employing a novel approach, the …

Reconstructing Auditory Evoked Cortical Response With Fewer Trials, Zoey Y. Zhang

Master's Theses

Auditory evoked fields (AEF) paradigm is a common research tool to study human auditory responses by using Magnetoencephalography (MEG), a neuroimaging tool. AEF paradigm requires repetition over many trials to achieve adequate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), but Autistic children and some other populations cannot tolerate prolonged exam time due to various reasons. To address these challenges, this project uses a novel machine learning algorithm, Champagne with baseline noise learning, to reconstruct AEF data with fewer trials (80%, 60%, 40%, 20%) but produce the same results as using all AEF trials (100%). The results show that this novel machine learning algorithm can …

Central Americans At A Crossroads: Asylum Seekers’ Testimonios Of Mental Health After Detention And Family Separation, Corie E. Schwabenland Garcia

Master's Theses

Though Central American asylum seekers are presently hypervisible in the U.S. consciousness, this population continues to be inadequately understood or cared for. Discussion of this population often presents them as a helpless and damaged population, in need of saving, fixing, or shelter -- beyond their trauma, they cease to exist. This qualitative study utilizes first-person testimonio methodology to understand the psychological experiences of Central American migrants seeking asylum in the United States, the stressors they face, and the mental health support that can and should be provided to them. Their stories speak to a space of sociopolitical precarity in the …

Acetylacetone Oxidation At Room Temperature: A Multiplexed Photoionization Mass Spectrometric Investigation, Study Of The Russell Intermediates In Gas Phase Reactions, And The Investigation Of Oxidation Reaction Products Of Ethanol At Room Temperature, Sara Gallarati

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the combustion study of acetyl acetone using synchrotron radiation coupled with multiplexed photoionization mass spectrometry at 298 K. The experiments were performed at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline 9.0.2 at the Advanced Light Source of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The reaction of acetyl acetone with chlorine (Cl) radicals was analyzed based on their photoionization spectra and reaction kinetic profiles.

Additionally, a study of the Russell intermediate has been performed. Previous to experimentation at the Advanced Light Source, computational analysis has been investigated to evaluate compounds that could possibly lead to the formation of a stable species. The …

Finding Balance: A Content Analysis Of How Newspaper Authors Framed Simone Biles Before, During, And After The 2020 Olympic Games, Hadley Howell

Master's Theses

Simone Biles was considered the GOAT, Greatest of All Time, going into the 2020 Olympic Games. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Larry Nassar trial, and the weight of the world on her shoulders, Biles would withdraw from the women’s gymnastics team final competition for mental health reasons. Thus, the following study examines how Biles was framed in the ten most circulated newspapers in the United States before, during, and after the 2020 Olympic Games. Results show that an author’s race and gender, topic of the article, type of article, and if an article contained an image or not ultimately …

Militant Maids: Domestic Workers’ Participation In Bus Boycotts, Voter Registration, And Head Start Programs In The Deep South, Brittany Ann Carey

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the participation of domestic workers in the Civil Rights Movement, specifically in Gulf South bus boycotts in Baton Rouge, Montgomery, and Tallahassee; voter registration efforts in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida; and Head Start work in those same Deep South states. Domestic workers engaged in activism by joining unions, women's movements, and the Communist Party to improve their treatment in Northern and Southern cities. Modern historians have expanded their research to explore the participation of domestic workers in the Civil Rights Movement, especially in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In some cases, researchers also have explored the complicated …

Message Convergence In Information Seeking And Decision Making Among Adult Children Regarding Their Parent's Diagnosis, Collyn Leggett

Master's Theses

Adult children have a unique role in caregiving and decision-making for a parent diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or condition. In this qualitative study, 15 individuals participated in one-on-one interviews to share their experience seeking information for their parent’s life-threatening diagnosis. This study utilized deductive and inductive coding approaches through axial coding, and two coders analyzed the data through a lens of message convergence framework and uncertainty management. The results show participants engage in information seeking from personal connections to the medical field to retrieve additional information from a more familiar, trusted source. The participants managed uncertainty retrospectively by reassessing …

Post Pandemic Cyberbiosecurity Threats From Terrorist Groups, Haley D. Dodge

Master's Theses

The research in this thesis explored the research question: Are United States (US) health systems accessible to cyber-bio terrorist attacks post-pandemic, within the context of the emerging discipline of cyberbiosecurity? Key findings of the analysis demonstrated how US health systems are more accessible to cyber-bio terrorist attacks specifically from cyber hacking groups based on the increasing sophistication of their cyber capabilities and the lack of cyber protection for biological systems. The concept of cyberbiosecurity was first introduced in 2018 by researchers exploring the converging threat landscape of the cyber and biology domains. As biology is growing more dependent upon vulnerable …

Project Management And Systems Engineering Framework For Educational Cubesat Missions, Bailey Garrett

Master's Theses

The rising complexity of CubeSat missions and the unique challenges faced by educational CubeSat programs lead to high rates of mission failure. Implementing project management and systems engineering practices can alleviate these challenges and improve mission success rates for educational CubeSat developers. However, existing project management and systems engineering resources are too cumbersome and often assume the student has a base-level understanding of project management and systems engineering fundamentals. A new universal project management and systems engineering framework was created and tailored specifically to the needs of an educational CubeSat mission. The framework was designed to accommodate first-time CubeSat developers, …

A Design Of A Digital Lockout Tagout System With Machine Learning, Brandon H. Chen

Master's Theses

Lockout Tagout (LOTO) is a safety procedure instated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when doing maintenance on dangerous machinery and hazardous power sources. In this procedure, authorized workers shut off the machinery and use physical locks and tags to prevent operation during maintenance. LOTO has been the industry standard for 32 years since it was instantiated, being used in many different industries such as industrial work, mining, and agriculture. However, LOTO is not without its issues. The LOTO procedure requires employees to be trained and is prone to human error. As well, there is a clash between …

Design Of A System To Investigate The Relationship Between Feedback And Delivery Medium For A Novel Motor Task, Ashley Humpal

Master's Theses

Stroke is a chronic, lifelong illness, and full recovery requires continuous physical and cognitive rehabilitation. Such long-term rehabilitation is cost-prohibitive; however an approach to providing long-term therapy that has recently gained traction is the use of socially assistive agent (SAA) systems. These systems make use of non-contact communication devices and can be used to guide people through a variety of rehabilitative tasks. They have the potential supplement current rehabilitation practices by providing motivation during intense exercises, and can extend the reach of the therapist into remote and home settings.

Though SAA systems have been used in a variety of rehabilitative …

Finding One's Artistic Voice Through Use Of Movement Exploration, Improvisation, And Reflective Writing, Maureen Glennon Clayton

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore how dance students will use movement exploration, improvisational experiences and reflective writing in the creation of personal movement choices and development of the artistic voice. The researcher developed three essential questions to guide this research: Q1 How does improvisation and movement exploration aid students in finding their own artistic voice?

Q2 What did the participants learn about the processes of improvisation and movement exploration through their reflective journal writing?

Q3 Do the participants feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the study?

The research instruments included pre- and post-surveys and …

Make Up! An Exploration Of Choreographic Methods: Transforming Sailor Moon Into Concert Dance, Nathaniel Drake Parrott

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the effectiveness of certain choreographic tools for the task of translating visual and literary material into concert dance, specifically through translating the source material Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. The research sought to determine which choreographic tools used in the study were more effective than others and more preferred than others in terms of participant responses. This was achieved through translating the animated series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon into a series of virtuosic dance solos for public performance through the use of various choreographic tools, including abstract translation, literal translation, Forsythe …

Finding The Right Combination: An Exploratory Study Of Business Acumen, Community Engagement, And Success Criteria In Colorado Dance Studios, Ann Hunt

Master's Theses

The primary purpose of this study was to discover similarities and differences between Colorado dance studio owner’s definitions of success and data pertaining to community engagement and business strategies. This may help to inform current and future dance studio entrepreneurs of the variety of interpersonal skills needed to maintain a dance studio, how community engagement may be an instrumental part of studio culture, and how business strategies and goals realized an owner’s vision. The essential questions that focused this research study were: Q1 Why is it important for dance studio owners to define success for themselves? Q2 What can be …

Ectotherm Thermoregulation At Fine Scales: Novel Methods Reveal A Link Between The Spatial Distribution Of Temperature And Habitat Quality, Ian Axsom

Master's Theses

Investigating ecological questions at the scale of individual organisms is necessary to understand and predict the biological consequences of environmental conditions. For small organisms this can be challenging because we need tools with the appropriate accuracy and resolution to record and quantify their ecological interactions. Unfortunately, many of our existing tools are only appropriate for medium to large organisms or those that are wide ranging, inhibiting our ability to investigate the ecology of small organisms at fine scales.

In Chapter 1, I tested a novel workflow for recording animal movements at very fine spatial and temporal scales. The workflow combined …

Switching “Leader” And “Follower” Roles: The Wedding First Dance As A Representation Of A Modern Relationship, Anna Magidson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine whether introducing switch dancing as an alternative to the traditional “leader” and “follower” role dynamic in a wedding first dance could be an effective tool of empowerment for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. It was particularly important to understand whether this could have a positive impact on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other (LGBTQIA+) community. To the researcher’s knowledge, no other academic research paper has ever examined the intersectionality between the wedding industry, the LGBTQIA+ community, and switch partner dancing. This study was developed …

Social Emotional Learning And Its Development Through Dance: Comparing The Opinions Of Dance Educators And Non-Dance Educators, Teresa Pachniak

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to identify connections between what is learned in a dance classroom within public schools and the five components of a Social Emotional Learning Curriculum: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The research was designed to answer the following questions: Q1 Are the five components of SEL demonstrated regularly by dance students in compared to non-dance students? Q2 Can SEL be taught using a dance curriculum of movement exploration and dance scholarship? The researcher hoped to accomplish this goal by comparing the opinions of dance teachers and those of non-dance teachers, regarding …

Empathy, Inclusion, Equity, Integration, Oneness: Best Practices In Lower Elementary Dance Education, Charity Metzger

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to determine ways in which dance could assist kindergarten to second-grade student comprehension of Empathy, Inclusion, Equity, and Oneness. To answer the research questions, the researcher used an integrative approach to gain qualitative data and investigated the ways in which students internalize these concepts. Administrators, general education teachers, social-emotional educators, and special education instructors collaborated with the dance educator to observe lessons, give feedback, and complete surveys based on the guided questions of the research. Research tools also included surveys from students, guardians, educators, and school staff that work closely with the classes involved. …

Dance Education In Pennsylvania Charter Schools: Advocating For Parity Among The Core Arts Disciplines, Donna Lynch

Master's Theses

The goal of this research was to collect data on existing dance programs and activities in Pennsylvania charter schools, and to advocate for the presence of dance in school arts offerings for academic credit, creating parity among the four core arts disciplines of visual arts, music, theater, and dance. The researcher developed three essential questions to guide this research:

Q1 What dance education programs currently exist in Pennsylvania charter schools, and what certifications are held by dance educators in these schools?

Q2 What obstacles, other than the teacher certification process, are preventing schools from hiring dance specialists and implementing dance …

Who’S Teaching Whom? A Dance Concert Exploring Teacher-Led, Student-Led, And Collaborative Choreographic Methods, Robin Suing

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to create a positive learning environment where students with a range of dance backgrounds can flourish. The goal was to discover the feeling responses of college students to teacher-led, student-led, and collaborative choreography to determine the importance of a balance between teacher-led and student-centered instruction. Information from this project will be used to inform curriculum planning in future dance courses. The following essential questions were used as a guide when assessing the qualitative and quantitative answers to the surveys and interview questions given to the participating students: Q1 What similarities and differences are found …

Are Competition Trained Dancers Ready For A College Dance Program?, Alison Durham

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore the opinions of competition trained dancers and college dance professors to see if dancers in college dance programs were prepared for all the aspects of dance that college offered. The research instrument used was an electronic survey that utilized qualitative and quantitative questions for gathering data. Participants in this study were located throughout the United States and included thirty college dance students and eight college dance professors. The data showed that some students believed they were prepared for a college dance program, while others felt they had holes in their training. The …

Use Of National/State Dance Standards And The Effect On High School Student Preparation Levels For College Admission Requirements, Rebbecca Meyers

Master's Theses

Meyers, Rebbecca. Use of National/State Dance Standards and the Effect on High School Student Preparation Levels for College Admission Requirements. Unpublished Master of Arts thesis, University of Northern Colorado, 2022.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the gap between high school dance student preparation levels and college dance entrance expectations and requirements within the state of California. To guide the research, it was important to consider the following essential questions: Q1 Are the use and effective implementation of the National Arts Standards in Dance, as well as the California Arts Dance Standards, in a given high school dance …

Crisis Communication In The Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Use Of Facebook By Un Humanitarian Organizations, Rubaiya Zannat

Master's Theses

The proliferation of social media has made it incredibly simple to quickly disseminate valuable information to a large audience. Thus, numerous organizations are now heavily leveraging these social networking platforms as a means for managing their crisis responses. Through a content analysis of 355 posts concerning the Ukraine-Russia conflict made by five large UN humanitarian organizations between February and May, 2022, on their official Facebook pages, this study investigated organizational crisis communication patterns. Findings suggest that UN humanitarian organizations extensively used "threat" and "need for change" as crisis characteristics to delineate the Ukraine-Russia situation, whereas “protection of safety and security,” …

Cdc’S Covid-19 Vaccination Messages And Public Engagement: A Study On Facebook Posts, Hasan Mahmud Faisal

Master's Theses

Government health agencies utilize social media for public health interventions. This study examines how CDC, the national public health agency of the United States, use Facebook to disseminate COVID-19 vaccine messages and to get public engagement towards them over the past two years (2020-2022). Investigating the process of dialogic potentials of Facebook from the dialogic theory of public relations perspective, the current study analyzes 681 posts and 3,405 comments from CDC’s official Facebook page. Thematic analysis of posts yields three dominant themes such as “Vaccine supportive”, “availability of vaccine”, and “up to date information”. Comment analysis shows positive sentiment to …

Drinking Motives As Mediators For The Relationships Between Overparenting And Alcohol Outcomes, Tatum Freeman

Master's Theses

The present study investigated the mediating role of drinking motives in the relationship between overparenting and alcohol outcomes using a sample of 207 traditional age college students (i.e., 18-25 years old; M = 19.8, SD = 1.64). Data on participant demographics, drinking motives, the practices of participants’ primary caregiver, typical weekly drinking, hazardous drinking, and alcohol consequences were collected via SONA (an online participant management software that allows researchers to collect data from a university psychology subject pool). Participants were 89.4% female and 54.1% White. Coping and conformity drinking motives partially mediated the relationships between overparenting, alcohol consequences, and hazardous …

Alzheimer’S Detection With The Discrete Wavelet Transform And Convolutional Neural Networks, Melissa N. Nardone

Master's Theses

Alzheimer’s disease slowly destroys an individual’s memory, and it is estimated to impact more than 5.5 million Americans. Over time, Alzheimer’s disease can cause behavior and personality changes. Current diagnosis techniques are challenging because individuals may show no clinical signs of the disease in the initial stages. As of today, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s. Therefore, symptom management is key, and it is critical that Alzheimer’s is detected early before major cognitive damage.

The approach implemented in this thesis explores the idea of using the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for Alzheimer’s detection. The neural …

Creation And Testing Of A Social Robot Guideline, Sarika L. Singhal

Master's Theses

For this thesis, I created a guideline for socially assistive robots (SARs), and used it to evaluate a reading comprehension based social robot.

To create the guideline I extracted relevant details from published standards about toy safety, radio equipment, electromagnetic compatibility, internet of things security, ethical considerations for human-computer interaction, and data privacy. I then sent a summarized version to experts in the field for feedback. I received seven responses, five of whom were from researchers in academia. The sample size was too small for statistical analysis. Survey responses identified additional areas, such as interactivity and aesthetics, for the guideline. …

Hypoxic Incubation Chamber, Simone Lisette Helfrich, Makenzie Nicole Jones

Master's Theses

This paper describes the design, manufacturing, and testing of a novel controllable hypoxic incubator with fully functional oxygen gas control and temperature control in a humid environment. On the current market, a majority of the few hypoxic incubators use pre-mixed gas that does not offer precise control over gas concentration. The objective for this project was to create a chamber that allows the user to set the O2 concentration to varying set points of % O2 while maintaining the chamber at a constant body temperature, CO2 level, humidity, and sterility. To start the project, multiple concepts were developed for the …

Quantifying Pain: A Ratio Of Cortisol, Substance P, And Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide As Biomarkers For Pain In Animal Cruelty And Neglect, Danielle Sherer

Master's Theses

Understanding the relationship between cortisol, Substance P, and PACAP during experienced pain and recovery, as well as the contrast between expression levels and serum levels, will provide an objective measure of pain and suffering to aid in the prosecution of animal cruelty and neglect cases.

There is no consensus at this time as to a recognized biomarker for pain experienced by an animal. Cortisol, Substance P, and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Peptide (PACAP) have been investigated separately in various animal and human studies with regard to stress, pain, and injury. Cortisol is a steroid hormone in the glucocorticoid class that has …

Testing And Verification For The Open Source Release Of The Horizon Simulation Framewortesting And Verification For The Open Source Release Of The Horizon Simulation Framework, William J. Balfour

Master's Theses

Modeling and simulation tools are exceptionally useful for designing aerospace systems because they allow engineers to test and iterate designs before committing the massive resources required for system realization. The Horizon Simulation Framework (HSF) is a time-driven modeling and simulation tool which attempts to optimize how a modeled system could perform a mission profile. After 15 years of development, the HSF team aims to achieve a wider user and developer base by releasing the software open source. To ensure a successful release, the software required extensive testing, and the main scheduling algorithm required protections against new code breaking old functionality. …