Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Kettlebell Training On Aerobic Capacity, Jonathan Asher Falatic

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a kettlebell training program on aerobic capacity. Seventeen female NCAA Division I collegiate soccer players (age 19.7 +1.0 years, height 166.1 +6.4 cm, weight 64.2 +8.2 kg) completed a graded exercise test to determine maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂max). Participants were placed into a kettlebell intervention (KB) group (n = 9) or a circuit weight training control (CWT) group (n = 8). Participants in the KB group completed a kettlebell snatch test to determine individual snatch repetitions. Both groups trained 3 days per week for 4 weeks in …

Wrf-Model Performance For Wind Power Forecasting In The Coast Ranges Of Central California, Kevin Thomas Clifford

Master's Theses

This study describes the verification of modeled low-level atmospheric conditions in the complex terrain surrounding the Altamont Pass wind farm near Livermore, California, USA. The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) was used to (1) simulate the Coast Range near-surface winds, and (2) simulate low-level flow and available wind power in the Altamont Pass. Standard statistical verifications were performed against low-level wind speed observations at seventeen sites. Available wind power was calculated using equivalent wind speed and was evaluated for six areas within Altamont Pass. The overall results include good model performance for the regional near-surface winds, acceptable to good …

Construction And Simplicity Of The Large Mathieu Groups, Robert Peter Hansen

Master's Theses

In this thesis, we describe the construction of the Mathieu group M₂₄ given by Ernst Witt in 1938, a construction whose geometry was examined by Jacques Tits in 1964. This construction is achieved by extending the projective semilinear group PΓL₃(F₄) and its action on the projective plane P²(F₄). P²(F₄) is the projective plane over the field of 4 elements, with 21 points and 21 lines, and PΓL₃(F₄) is the largest group sending lines to lines in P²(F₄).This plane has 168 6-point subsets, hexads, with the …

Numerical Investigation Of Fundamental Physics For Flows Over Expansion And Compression Corners, Freddy Ngo

Master's Theses

Oblique shocks and expansion waves are commonly found in aerospace applications such as wings and nozzles. These types of shocks change the properties of the flow, thus causing changes in the lift, drag, and/or heat transfer. Hypersonic flow is important to study as its impacts are significant. In this thesis, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is utilized to characterize the physics of the flow. Parametric studies of the Mach number and turning angle were conducted. Simulations included both inviscid and viscous flows to demonstrate the effects of boundary layer on flow properties. The majority of the viscous flows were focused on …

Understanding The Relationship Between Hyper-Violence And Educational Disparity: Listening To The Voices Of Latina Youth From Oakland, Yanira Madrigal-Garcia

Master's Theses

The hyper-violence that exists in Oakland, California, has persistently made national headlines. When examining the violence that exists in low-income urban cities, studies usually overemphasize the male experience. The studies that center on female experience usually focus on extreme cases such as gang-involved and incarcerated girls. This study foregrounds the experiences of Latina high school girls from Oakland who are "in the middle," neither gang-involved nor academic high-achievers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate: 1) how the participants make sense of and understand the violence that is present in their communities; 2) how violence impacts their everyday lives …

Public Awareness About Global Warming In Hyderabad, India, Vani Sarraju Rao

Master's Theses

This study addressed public perceptions and awareness about global warming in India through a survey of 851 subjects in the city of Hyderabad in the year 2007. A stratified sample of nine segments of society showed that, although people consider global warming a serious problem, they do not clearly understand its causes, impacts, and solutions. The data analyses using paired T-tests indicated differences in levels of awareness about global warming, across age and education. ANOVA and regression analysis suggested that levels of awareness among respondents varied according to their occupation. The degree of seriousness with which subjects viewed global warming …

Patterns Of Genetic And Morphological Variation In Deer Mice (Peromyscus Maniculatus) In The Warner Mountains, Allison Linnea Wade

Master's Theses

A previously recognized north-south mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) break in populations of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, was investigated in Western North America. A 383-bp fragment of the mtDNA control region was analyzed from 107 tissue samples in the unstudied Warner Mountains of northeastern California. To determine if this north-south mtDNA break was also reflected in morphology, six cranial and mandibular measurements were taken from 72 deer mice. Using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), it was determined that cranial characters did not vary significantly between the two mtDNA haplogroups, and discriminant function analysis (DFA) was unable to discriminate between the two haplogroups. …

Yig-Sphere-Based Phase Shifter For X-Band Phased Array Applications, Donald C. Benson

Master's Theses

A novel technique for effecting phase shift of X-band signals has been developed and analyzed for use with quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) of signals in a phased array application, and the impact of this phase shifter on error vector magnitude (EVM) has been quantified. A commercially available filter consisting of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres was characterized by means of a network analyzer. The gain and phase response was measured across a 25 MHz frequency band centered at 10 GHz, while the filter was tuned in frequency steps such that a 360° range of phase shifts was achieved. The S-parameters …

Getting By At The Benjamin Mays Black Branch: Library Access For African Americans In Jim Crow South Carolina, 1940-1971, Jamie Irene Cutter

Master's Theses

This thesis examines a chapter of South Carolina history that has been neglected in the historical record, namely segregated libraries of the twentieth century. Previous works have covered the history of black libraries in the entire South, but details of South Carolina's segregated libraries are incomplete. This study looks first at the broader context of segregated libraries in the American South and then reviews the history of African American libraries in South Carolina. Finally, this study provides a case study of the Benjamin Mays Library, a segregated, African American library in Greenwood, South Carolina. The case study uses primary source …

The Effects Of Self-Referencing On Mood And Information Processing, Michael Mehler

Master's Theses

Research in the area of attitude change has demonstrated that people can process a persuasive message in a systematic or heuristic manner. It has been shown that positive mood increases heuristic processing, whereas negative mood increases systematic processing. In the current study, we were interested in examining one factor that may increase happy people's ability or desire to systematically process a persuasive message, self-referencing. Self-referencing occurs when information is processed by relating it to oneself or one's personal experience. After a happy, neutral, or sad mood was induced, participants were exposed to a message with either self-referencing or no self-referencing …

The Manual Flight Skill Of Airline Pilots, Antonio Puentes

Master's Theses

The manual flight ability of commercial airline pilots has been scrutinized

after several aviation disasters in the first decade of the 21st century where pilot error has been a contributing cause. Voluntary pilot incident reports from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) were examined as one method to determine the prevalence of manual flight skill decline among airline pilots. The investigation studied reports from unstabilized approach to landings where the pilots manually controlled the aircraft during descent. An analysis of the ASRS reports from pilots flying traditional flight deck aircraft compared with pilots flying aircraft …

Habitat Use Of Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis) In The San Francisco Estuary And Its Effect On Total Mercury And Heavy Metal Body Burden Upon Capture, Jonathan Hugh Walsh

Master's Theses

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) is a nearshore, anadromous fish in the San Francisco Estuary (SFE). A notable aspect of Striped Bass populations in general is yearly migrations, but there has been considerable disagreement over the homogeneity of these movements within the SFE. Additionally, since Striped Bass spend their entire lives in estuarine and nearshore environments, they likely encounter contaminants due to their proximity to anthropogenic pollution sources, a known concern with this species.

The purpose of this study was to clarify habitat use, movements of Striped Bass in the SFE, and potential dangers to Striped Bass and consumers from contaminants …

Mixing And Melt Sources In The Miocene Aztec Wash Pluton (Nevada, Usa) As Revealed By Zircon Hf And O And Whole Rock Sr, Nd And Hf Isotopes, Mark Ryan

Master's Theses

The 15.6 Ma Aztec Wash pluton, within the northern Colorado River extensional corridor (Nevada), displays abundant field evidence for open system processes. Previous geochemical studies documented physical and chemical mixing processes that produced a wide spectrum of compositional and textural variants. To better understand the mixing pathways and melt sources, whole rock and zircon isotopes were analyzed from samples that document the range of rock compositions and textural variety and that contain zircons that have trace element variations indicative of large thermal and chemical fluctuations. The new whole rock isotope data show that all rocks are mixtures of Precambrian crust …

Evaluating Trademark Design, Katherine L. Spencer

Master's Theses

Trademarks serve as visual representations of a company's name, product, or values. This research sought to determine the effect of the application of human factors principles and graphic design principles on trademark design. A computerized questionnaire was employed to investigate the emotional impact, comprehension, and recall of trademarks based on their type (typographic elements or graphic elements), their subject-content compatibility, and their adherence to human factors and graphic design principles. Trademark type had a significant effect on comprehension of trademarks but no significant effect on emotional impact or recall. Trademarks with high subject-content compatibility and trademarks that use visual metaphor …

The Effects Of Mere Exposure On Responses To Foreign-Accented Speech, Lea Grossman

Master's Theses

The present study examined the effects of repeated exposure to the accent (standard American English vs. Asian Indian) of a prospective college professor on participants' cognitive reactions, affective reactions, and passage comprehension. Based on data collected from 115 undergraduate students, results showed that an Asian Indian-accented professor was perceived as being less competent, less likable, but more motivated than a standard American English speaking professor. In addition, the trustworthiness of the Asian Indian-accented professor decreased over time as well as participants' negative opinions of the professor. Finally, the results of the study indicate that when listening to the professor's foreign …

Life History Characteristics Of The Starry Skate, Raja Stellulata, From California Waters, Kelsey James

Master's Theses

The order Rajiformes, or skates, is a morphologically conservative group that exhibits a wide range of life history characteristics. This inter-species variability warrants species-specific research. This study investigates the age, growth, reproduction, and habitat of the Starry Skate, Raja stellulata, which is endemic to the U.S. West Coast. Age and growth parameters were determined using two preparation techniques: gross sectioning and histological sectioning. The assumption that gross sections deposit one band pair a year was indirectly validated with centrum edge analysis and marginal increment ratio. It was not indirectly validated with histological sections. Age estimates from gross sections ranged from …

Food Habits Of Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina Richardii) In San Francisco Bay, California, Corinne Michele Gibble

Master's Theses

The diet of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii) in San Francisco Bay (SFB) in California was examined from July 2007 to July 2008 via scat analysis. Scats were collected from five major haul-out sites; 22 species of fish and one species of crustacean were identified from 422 scats. The reliance of a non-native invasive species, Yellowfin Goby (Acanthogobius flavimanus), increased in importance in the diet. Additionally, another non-native invasive fish species, Chameleon Goby (Tridentiger trigonocephalus), was found for the first time in the diet of harbor seals in SFB. Harbor seal diet was compared between seasons, locations, and years using …

A Mathematical Approach For Predicting Harbor Seal Haul-Out, Jonathan Daniel Cowles

Master's Theses

Harbor seals haul out in response to various environmental factors such as tide, current, time of day, wind, and surf. Mathematical modeling techniques can be used to determine which of these variables are important and to predict the number of seals that will haul-out in a given set of environmental circumstances. Haul-out counts were recorded every hour for 16 hrs per day over two 14-d tidal cycles at a site in Washington State. Deterministic environmental variables (tide height, current velocity, solar elevation, and time of day) were used to create 37 alternative models, which were then compared to the haul-out …

The Order And Significance Of The Sealed Tribes Of Revelation 7:4-8, Michael W. Troxell

Master's Theses

Problem. John’s list of twelve tribes of Israel in Rev 7, representing those who are sealed in the last days, has been the source of much debate through the years. This present study was to determine if there is any theological significance to the composition of the names in John’s list. Of particular interest to this study is the meaning of the inclusion of Levi and Manasseh and the exclusion of Dan and Ephraim. -- Methodology. Intertextual comparisons between John’s list and the many Old Testament lists of Israelite tribes were used to identify any theological significance to the composition …

Policy Appears Upon The Scene, Hand In Hand With Poverty: An Analysis Of The Moderating Effects Of Teacher Attitude On The Relationship Between Professional Development And Student Achievement., Kristen Beth Adler

Master's Theses

Massive deficits in local, state and national education budgets are forcing schools to adapt their spending to align with these reductions. Rather than merely increasing or decreasing resources, the effectiveness of resource allocation is demanding renewed attention at all levels of educational expenditure. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of teacher professional development across five campuses at Chicago International Charter School. It is the goal of this project to examine how teacher professional development directly impacts student performance, as well as to evaluate whether this relationship is moderated by teacher attitude towards professional development activities. It …

Body Image And Body Mass Index: An Investigation Of Preadolescent Low-Income, Urban Ethnic Minority Girls, Amanda K. Ward

Master's Theses

Utilizing a sample of low-income, urban preadolescent African American and Latina girls, this study examined ethnic differences in two aspects of body image (i.e., body dissatisfaction and weight descriptions), and determined if this relation varied as a function of age. This study also examined the relation between the body image variables and self-esteem and BMI and self-esteem, and determined if these relations differed depending on age or ethnicity. Participants were recruited from 3rd through 5th grade at five Chicago Public Schools, and completed measures of body dissatisfaction, weight descriptions, self-esteem, and had their anthropometric measurements taken. Results showed that Latina …

Emotional Exhaustion, Work-Family Conflict, And Marital Satisfaction Among Professional Psychologists., Alisha Oscharoff

Master's Theses

While a wealth of research has examined how the occupational role affects family domain functioning, there is limited research investigating these issues among mental health professionals. Using a sample of 160 professional psychologists, this study examined the relationships between emotional exhaustion at work, work-family conflict (WFC), and marital satisfaction as well as gender differences in the strengths of these relationships. Analyses indicated that increased emotional exhaustion was associated with increased WFC and that both emotional exhaustion and WFC were negatively associated with marital satisfaction. However, WFC did not emerge as a significant mediator of the relationship between emotional exhaustion and …

Indigenous Intercultural Universities In Latin America: Interpreting Interculturalism In Mexico And Bolivia, Luciano Pedota

Master's Theses

The newly created Indigenous Intercultural Universities in Latin America challenge the conventional conception of universities and their "universal" quality. Such universities seek to decolonize knowledge by generating knowledge that is relevant to the communities in which they are located. These intentions, however, do not necessarily exclude the knowledge and research methods imparted by long-established Western universities. Instead, they have been conceived as Intercultural institutions designed to train indigenous community leaders capable of hybridizing or carrying out a "dialogue of knowledges"(Mato, 2007) and research methods of what are ultimately two different, and often times, opposing and contentious paradigms, one stemming from …

Projects Of Identity Creation In English Languate Textbooks Aimed At Adult Immigrants: 1900 And 2000, Steven Herbert Fehr

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate the temporal parallels and differences between adult immigrant education and latent identity projects intertwined with the textbooks being used in the classrooms. By analyzing a sample of textbooks from both the turn of the 20th and 21st century I attempt to find both similarities and differences between these two time periods. These two periods are similar in that they are when the largest number of immigrants arrived in America, but in many ways (global context, technology, and political environment) they are also very different. How the American educational system responded to these …

Constructing A "Good" Colonial Society: Representations Of Philippine Colonial Education At The 1887 Philippine Exposition In Madrid And The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, Erin Hardacker

Master's Theses

World's fairs and expositions were major social, political, economic, and cultural events in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These events were places where colonial states could display their achievements in their colonies, as well as produce knowledge and organize people as part of / in aid of the colonial project. It is a generally agreed fact among historians that the colonial exhibits at world's fairs and expositions were often idealized representations, or even deliberate misrepresentations, of colonies and colonial projects. Examining world's fairs and expositions should shed light on how colonial states developed and displayed their colonial education …

Being In The Know: Punk, Confrontation, And The Process Of Validating Truth Claims, Christopher Richard Penna

Master's Theses

Since the birth of punk, it has been a harbinger of trends within both youth culture and what cultural theorist Theodor Adorno calls the "culture industry" (Adorno & Horkheimer, 1947; Adorno, 1971). However, punk has never been fully embraced by the culture industry, largely, by design. Punk arose as a response, borne out of the frustration of a stagnant world that values profit over people (Sabin, 1999, p. 3). Present within opposition is confrontation--which is the very nature of punk. This thesis seeks to exemplify how punk uses confrontation as the instrument through which punk comes to know truths. The …

Accountability And Political Tolerance: "Sober Second-Thought" Or Knee-Jerk?, Erika D. Price

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the cognitive underpinnings of political tolerance. Past research suggests that political elites are more tolerant than the general population, regardless of political orientation. Survey results suggest that political expertise, interest, and attention to politics foster increased political tolerance, regardless of ideology, party, or the extent to which tolerance is carefully considered by the respondent.

Prosocial Behavior And Teamwork In Online Computer Games, Julia Elizabeth Fredrickson

Master's Theses

The use of technology for training purposes is a growing field. Many of the traits for successful team building are shared by a variety of video games, overcoming the limitations of traditional team-building exercises. The goal of this research project was to study social and teamwork oriented behaviors within the settings of online computer games. One hundred and eighty-one individuals completed an online survey in which they were asked questions regarding team-work behaviors. These individuals also participated in a game scenario which measured their social orientation. The hypotheses for this research were that individuals who play online computer games will …

The Ends Determine The Means: Activated Goals Explain The Decision To Confront, Kala Jean Melchiori

Master's Theses

Women believe that they would confront perpetrators of sexual harassment, but when put in a sexually harassing situation they rarely confront (Woodzicka & LaFrance, 2001). Women may overestimate their likelihood of confronting because they think they would be concerned with fairness, but in actuality the need to belong strongly dissuades women from confronting harassers. I tested this idea by randomly assigning women to be primed with a belonging, fairness, or no goal, and then had them predict how they would respond to sexually harassing or surprising interview questions. Women who viewed the sexually harassing interview questions predicted more confrontational behavior …

An Attack On One Is An Attack On All: Factors That Influence Responses To Witnessing Discrimination, Hilary E. Slover

Master's Theses

Witnessing discrimination against a racial minority should be threatening to both racial minority and majority group members, but for different reasons. One's racial group membership and one's relationship with the perpetrator could both serve as sources of threat to a third party observer. Ninety-two participants identified as racial majority group members (i.e., White) and 48 identified as racial minority group members (i.e., Asian, Black, and other). Each participant was asked to report one instance of discrimination perpetrated by a close other and one by a distant other. Some differences between minority and majority group members' responses emerged. For example, compared …