Digital Commons Network^™

Learning Financial Literacy In The Family, Maria Paula Calamato

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the relationship between parental involvement and student level of financial literacy. Past studies have established that children's financial behavior and attitudes are shaped by their parents who pass on norms and social values to them. Using a convenience sample of 108 undergraduate students at a local state university, the present research tested whether children who had higher levels of financial literacy had parents who had taught them financial knowledge. The results of the test show that students' level of financial literacy is not significantly related to parental involvement.

Morton Subotnick's Ghost Scores: Interaction And Performance With Music Technology, Jeffrey Hanson

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the ghost works of Morton Subotnick and their contribution to the world of sound art and electronic music technologies. Subotnick's work in this area is an integral part of his outstanding achievements, on which there is little collected research. The discussion focuses on the development of Subotnick's designs and techniques that he applied to the construction of the ghost works. Through an exploration of earlier background details, it is shown that tape recording, voltage-controlled technologies, and the analog sequencer provided Subotnick with the means to follow his vision and begin creating "music as studio art." An examination …

The Art Of Camille Rose Garcia: An Existential Fairy Tale, Jennifer De La Cruz

Master's Theses

Camille Rose Garcia is part of a contemporary underground art movement known as Pop Surrealism. An apparent dream-like and unexpected nature borrows from the oeuvre of Surrealism, while an allusion to the familiar and popular denotes similarities to the comic culture of the 1930s and Pop Art of the 1960s. Garcia's paintings are laced with the personal remnants of childhood memories that recall frequent trips to Disneyland and visits to her grandparent's cabin tucked away in the redwood forests of Northern California. Her artwork, a haunting recipe of sweet and sour, beautiful and grotesque, ominous and nostalgic, travels through Los …

Hip Hip 101: A University Level Course Curriculum For Examining Hip Hop In The Modern World, David Ma

Master's Theses

Hip Hop 101 is a university level course curriculum intended for use by college level educators. It serves as a primer on hip-hop history and includes daily lesson plans that use multi-media tools to scaffold student learning. It was produced under the belief that hip-hop (its music and culture) deserve the time and examination as other longstanding disciplines.

Establishing Community And Research Trust In Public Health Using Service-Oriented Architecture (Soa), Juanita Hun Mah

Master's Theses

One of the major challenges of community-based research is recruitment of community members who will participate in clinical trials, continue for the duration of the trial, and provide accurate sensitive personal information. This challenge can be overcome by establishing greater trust between researchers and communities.

This study focuses on a system to address trust issues between the San Jose Hispanic community and clinical researchers. It describes a methodology for translating non-functional wants and needs into technical requirements that are used as input to a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach to design a solution. Unlike a typical SOA that is derived from …

An Abridged History Of The Orange, Robert Aho

Master's Theses

The orange is more than a fruit that one can purchase at a supermarket or pick from the tree in the yard. The fruit started as an object of exoticism. It was later transformed into a symbol of purity. Eventually the orange became a vehicle for humanity to demonstrate its mastery over nature. In modern society, oranges are the foundation of enterprises, ones that sustain entire regions of the world. This thesis presents a series of essays, each using aspects of art history and geography, to describe the history of the orange. The intention of this thesis is to introduce …

Radical Reading: Print Culture And The San Francisco Labor Movement, 1880-1889, Marie Louise Silva

Master's Theses

Labor historians have documented the extraordinary growth of unionism in 1880s San Francisco and its lasting impact on the city's political and industrial landscape, emphasizing the San Francisco labor movement's impressive organizational and political accomplishments. Little attention has been paid, however, to the blossoming of radical print culture that accompanied and inspired the organizational campaigns of the 1880s. Informed by developments in the fields of labor and book history that emphasize the cultural agency of workers and working-class readers, this study addresses this gap in the historical record, reconstructing the history of radical print culture in 1880s San Francisco through …

Women With Facial Disfigurements: Impact Of Media-Constructed Images Of Beauty, Sophia M. Papadopoulos

Master's Theses

WOMEN WITH FACIAL DISFIGUREMENTS: IMPACT OF MEDIA-CONSTRUCTED IMAGES OF BEAUTY

by Sophia M. Papadopoulos

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether women with congenital or acquired facial disfigurements were negatively influenced by the images of beauty found in television, magazines, newspapers, and advertisements and to determine how these images affected their overall perceptions of self. A qualitative study was conducted through in-depth telephone interviews with 25 women with various facial disfigurements. The study showed that, although media-constructed images of beauty did have some influence on the participants' overall perceptions of self, other factors such as the manner in …

Kinna-Uganda: A Review Of Uganda's National Cinema, Kristin Alexandra Rasmussen

Master's Theses

Kinna-Uganda (K-U) is a form of cinema that has emerged in Uganda following decades of the totalitarian political regime of Idi Amin, which in turn followed almost a century of colonial rule. The concept of national cinema is evaluated in this thesis as a tool for analysis of K-U. The national cinema concept is compared with four other models -- regional, continental, Pan-African, and transnational -- that can also be used to analyze and deconstruct films and the academic space within which they reside. This study examines Uganda's pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial times and their impact on the production of …

In Situ Detection Of Tbx5 Expression In Developing Chick Embryonic Heart, Vaishali Agarwal

Master's Theses

The Tbx 5 gene codes for a highly conserved transcription factor containing a DNA-binding motif called the T box (or T-domain). Tbx 5 is expressed in the posterior sinoatrial segment of the heart along with the developing forelimb buds. Mutations in Tbx 5 gene are associated with Holt Oram Syndrome (HOS), which is characterized by heart septal defects and forelimb abnormalities. Tbx 5 expression was examined during various stages of heart development in chick embryos using both a double stranded digoxygenin-labeled DNA probe and a single stranded digoxygenin-labeled anti-sense RNA probe (riboprobe). Due to the presence of homology in the …

Denoising Of Natural Images Using The Wavelet Transform, Manish Kumar Singh

Master's Theses

A new denoising algorithm based on the Haar wavelet transform is proposed. The methodology is based on an algorithm initially developed for image compression using the Tetrolet transform. The Tetrolet transform is an adaptive Haar wavelet transform whose support is tetrominoes, that is, shapes made by connecting four equal sized squares. The proposed algorithm improves denoising performance measured in peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) by 1-2.5 dB over the Haar wavelet transform for images corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) assuming universal hard thresholding. The algorithm is local and works independently on each 4x4 block of the image. It performs …

New Media Use Among High Achieving Adolescents, Kathleen Sara Alpizar

Master's Theses

To date, there has been relatively little research on adolescents and their new media use in school and at home. It is important to study this new media use because it can reveal much about how communication patterns are changing or evolving as adolescents incorporate new media seamlessly into their lives.

This study examined high achieving adolescents' use of new media at school and in their homes. Data were gathered at school through questionnaires and group discussion sessions. In addition, students kept diaries of all of their media use for one week.

This study revealed that high-achieving adolescents use new …

Hcnabc Gene Expression In The Soil Bacterium Pseudomonas Putida Ath2-Iri/9 Under Various Culture And Rhizosphere Conditions, Myrna May Biswas

Master's Theses

Pseudomonas putida ATH2-1RI/9, a bacterium that colonizes plant roots, can suppress weed seedling growth of velvetleaf by producing hydrogen cyanide in the rhizosphere. The operon hcnABC constitutively expresses HCN synthase, an enzyme which catalyzes glycine to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen cyanide, a secondary metabolite. Cyanogenesis is influenced by several environmental factors including iron, phosphate, and oxygen-limiting conditions. This study used a hcnABC::luxAB gene fusion in Pseudomonas putida ATH2-1RI/9 involving the insertion of a promoterless luxAB gene into the hcnABC operon, which results in bacterial luciferase expression instead of HCN synthase. Bioluminescence by this reporter strain was compared to cyanide …

The Design And Manufacture Of A Light Emitting Diode Package For General Lighting, Michael S. Krist

Master's Theses

Lighting technologies have evolved over the years to become higher quality, more efficient sources of light. LEDs are poised to become the market standard for general lighting because they are the most power efficient form of lighting and do not contain hazardous materials. Unfortunately, LEDs pose unique problems because advanced thermal management is required to remove the high heat fluxes generated by such relatively small devices. These problems have already been overcome with complex packaging and exotic materials, but high costs are preventing this technology from displacing current lighting technologies.

The purpose of this study is to develop a low-cost …

Recess Policy In Chicago Public Schools: 1855-2006, Laura Ann Wurzburger

Master's Theses

The history of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) recess policy has been marked by long periods of consistency. However, in the last two decades the history of recess policy has changed significantly. Beginning in the mid-19th century, the Board of Education required one to two recess sessions per day in primary or elementary schools. This is in stark contrast to the 1991 policy which eliminated recess entirely for seven years. In 1998 there was another policy shift which is still in effect today. This policy allows individual principals and their local school councils to determine how to allocate their daily schedule. …

The Distribution Of Gnrh And Erbeta In Pre- And Post-Pubertal Male Rats, Maysaa Nageeb

Master's Theses

The hypothalamic-pituitary- gonadal axis is intrinsic in regulating reproductive function. Each part orchestrates the synthesis and release of a key hormone. At the level of the hypothalamus, Gonadotropin- releasing hormone (GnRH) is released and it is the

most upstream regulator of sexual maturation. GnRH neurons express a type of estrogen receptor, ERbeta, which suggests that estradiol (E2) plays a direct role in modulating GnRH function (Herbison and Pape 2001). The objective of this study was to determine if gonadal steroid hormones regulate the expression of ERbeta and GnRH mRNA in the male brain during pubertal development. In-situ hybridization was used …

Localization And Functional Analysis Of Plasmodium Falciparum Genes Pfl2550w And Pff0750w, Carolyn Jane Strobel

Master's Theses

Malaria is a parasitic disease that causes over a million deaths worldwide each year. Understanding development through the parasite's life cycle is necessary to stop disease transmission. As the genetic basis for the crucial transition from the erythrocytic asexual cycle to gametocytogenesis is unknown, we hope to better understand this transition by studying sexual stage genes and their roles in gametocytogenesis. PFL2550w and PFF0750w are genes upregulated during gametocytogenesis that were identified by a whole-genome microarray comparing gene expression between gametocyte-producing and gametocyte-deficient strains. In this study, PFL2550w was shown to be a soluble protein that is exported from the …

Attitudes Towards Global Civic-Mindedness And Engagement Before And After Study Abroad: A Study Of Undergraduate Students At International Study Abroad Centers Of An American University, Mousumi Mukherjee

Master's Theses

Mousumi Mukherjee

Loyola University of Chicago

ATTITUDES TOWARDS GLOBAL CIVIC-MINDEDNESS AND ENGAGEMENT BEFORE AND AFTER STUDY ABROAD:

A STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT

INTERNATIONAL STUDY ABROAD CENTERS OF AN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

In recent years Study Abroad has come from the periphery to the center of Higher Education programs in the U.S. Students from across the world has been studying abroad in the U.S. for decades because of the advanced research and infrastructural facilities here. Compared to the international students studying abroad in the U.S., the number of U.S. students studying abroad has been negligible according to Open Doors data reported …

Messages Of Nationalism In Mexican And U.S. Textbooks: Implications For The National Identity Of Transnational Students, Danielle Lane Jerdee

Master's Theses

This study uses qualitative content analysis to compare fifth grade social studies textbooks in Mexico and the United States to provide insight on how messages of national identity change as students migrate between school systems. The following research questions will guide the analysis: Given that one of the roles of textbooks is to form a national consciousness through mythmaking, how do messages of national identity conveyed in Mexican and U.S. textbooks conflict? How are the topics of immigration and citizenship presented in each nation's textbooks? In what ways do differences in the accounts of history between Mexico and the United …

Cyberspace And The Defense Of The Revolution: Cuban Bloggers, Civic Participation, And State Discourse, Renee Naomi Timberlake

Master's Theses

In this thesis I address how Cuban bloggers are contesting state sanctioned modes of civic participation and censorship. I begin to address this question with a discussion of the creation and perpetuation of a state sponsored hegemonic discourse, followed by the alternative, counterhegemonic discourses which appear in the blogs of Cuban writers Yoani Sanchez and Claudia Cadelo. The two authors are tapping into the internet, overcoming state imposed, island-wide bans on their websites, and voicing their dissent against and frustration with a government that professes a discourse of solidarity and socialism while enacting a reality of inequality and market-based economics.

Gender Stereotypes In Public School Textbooks In The Dominican Republic, Karie Jo Karasiak

Master's Theses

In 1992, the Secretary of Education of the Dominican Republic set an objective of eliminating gender stereotypes that discriminate against women from textbooks (Díaz Santana, 1996; Mateo Diclo, n.d.). My research is a historical comparison of two sets of texts published in the years 1996-1997 and 2005-2007 focusing on visual representations portraying gender roles with the purpose of ascertaining if progress is being made towards this objective. I analyze a total of six books, three books from 1996-1997 and three from 2005-2007. The examined textbooks include two second grade Natural Sciences, two fourth grade Spanish, and two sixth grade Social …

Building Citizens Or Building Nations? Alternative Visions For Learning History In Germany And The United States: The Geschichtswettbewerb Des Bundespraesidenten And National History Day, 1974-1984, Crystal Johnson

Master's Theses

The German philanthropist Kurt Körber and the American historian David Van Tassel envisioned a future where students engaged in discovering the sources and interpreting the past for themselves rather than reciting facts filtered by a textbook or teacher. Their ideas developed into two strikingly similar programs: the Geschichtswettbewerb des Bundespräsidenten and National History Day. These endeavors became models for similar efforts in many other countries. This comparative history argues that such programs offer provocative insights into the civic nature and purpose of history education. Inquiry learning and enhanced access to sources gave students opportunities to ask their own questions of …

Reorientation Through Interruption: On The Relation Of Immanuel Kant's Modes Of Egoism To His Critical Philosophy, Giancarlo Tarantino

Master's Theses

The relationship between Immanuel Kant's anthropology, and his Critical philosophy has proven to be a notoriously difficult problem, both for specifically Kantian scholarship as well as for philosophy in general. This thesis attempts to investigate this relationship by showing the importance of Kant's modes of egoism at work in his three Critiques. In doing so this thesis will highlight the phenomena of interruption, and orientation as playing crucial interpretive roles for parsing out the aforementioned relationship. I will try to show that anthropology and Critique mutually interrupt, and re-orient one another's specific contributions to the major themes of Kant's thinking.

Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Clusters And Externalizing Problems In Young Urban African American Adolescents, Maria Ann Horn-Rollins

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between five posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) clusters and two forms of externalizing problems within and across the middle school years in a low income urban sample of young adolescent African Americans. A secondary aim of this study was to explore moderation effects by gender. Total PTSS positively predicted a little over 58% of the cross-sectional externalizing outcomes and uniquely explained between 5 and 12% of the variance in these outcomes over and above gender and exposure to violence. Total PTSS significantly and positively predicted one-third of the longitudinal outcomes and …

Public Responsiveness To Victim's Recommendations In Their Sentencing Decisions: Role Of Victim's Race, Victim Impact Statement And Judge's Instructions, Mary Elizabeth Talbot

Master's Theses

A total of 191 participants completed the 2 (Race of victim: African American, Caucasian) x 2 (Content of Victim Impact Statement (VIS): Sentence Recommendation Only, Both Sentence Recommendation and Harm Statement) x 2 (Jury Guidelines for VIS: No guidance, Explicit instructions to weigh the harm statement with other aggravating and mitigating factors) between subjects factorial design study. The study assessed the relationship between the victim's race (African-American or Caucasian), the content of victim impact statements, and the judge's guidelines/instructions for interpreting/using the Victim Impact Statement (VIS) in the sentencing phase of a defendant's trial for burglary and aggravated battery. The …

Affection, Anger, Or Ambivalence? An Examination Of Tunisian And Two Groups Of American Students' Attitudes Toward American Politics And Popular Culture, Jonya Leverett

Master's Theses

Attitude ambivalence is the attitude actor's simultaneous possession of both negative and positive affect toward an attitude object. The competing affect produces tension, creating attitude ambivalence. In the present project, the attitude object is the United States of America. Students in Tunisia (a predominately Muslim nation) were asked specific questions about American foreign policy and American popular culture (n = 17). These two aspects of the `America' attitude object are expected to produce attitude ambivalence as the Tunisian students should express positive affect toward American popular culture and negative affect toward American foreign policy. A pencil and paper survey featuring …

Knowledge, The Marketization Of Education, And High-Stakes Accountability: Curriculum Differentiation In Chicago Public High Schools, Paige Elizabeth Jessee

Master's Theses

Over the course of the twentieth century curriculum differentiation became a mainstay in education, particularly in secondary schools. Much has been written on how this is a purposeful selection process often tied to larger social and political status and relationships. Moreover, knowledge is largely deemed appropriate based upon whose knowledge it is and for what student it is appropriate. Also, within the past two decades, there has been an increase in neoliberal school choice policies and neoconservative standardization policies in public education largely in the form of charter schools and high-stakes testing. These market policies aim to increase innovation and …

The City Imagined: Race, Place And Identity In The Making Of Urban Church, Jessica M. Barron

Master's Theses

In this study, I will explore the racial and urban imaginary of church leaders and members seeking to create an authentic and relevant church for Chicago's unchurched, young-adult urbanite. In their quest to develop a relevant church, the varied imaginations of the city of Chicago by leaders, volunteers and members come to the forefront. How these imaginations are fostered, incorporated, rebelled against or dismissed brings to light the politics of imagining the imagined city. This paper will discuss these varied, dueling, and sometimes contradictory imaginations informing the construction, operation, and branding campaigns of Urban Church. Particular focus will be paid …

Resource Composition And Macroinvertebrate Resource Consumption In The Colorado River Below Glen Canyon Dam, Holly Ann Alfreda Wellard Kelly

Master's Theses

Physical and biological changes to rivers induced by large dams can significantly alter downstream communities, decreasing the biotic integrity of these rivers. For example, completion of Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River in 1963 has altered the downstream ecosystem and contributed to the decline of native fish populations and dramatic changes in the macroinvertebrate communities. Physical changes associated with the dam may also influence the food resources supporting macroinvertebrate production, but this has not been previously measured. For example, autochthonous production is high in the clear tailwaters of the dam, but downstream tributary allochthonous carbon inputs are substantial and …

Structure-Function Relationship Studies Of The Udp-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase From Escherichia Coli, Agnieszka Maria Orlof

Master's Theses

UDP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase (UDP-Glc PPase) is a key enzyme of the carbohydrate metabolic pathway widely used among prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In plants, UDP-Glc PPase is necessary for sucrose synthesis while mammals utilize this enzyme for the production of glycogen. A bacterium such as Escherichia coli uses UDP-Glc PPase for biosynthesis of the lipopolysscharide core which forms a cell wall.

This study focused on UDP-Glc PPase from Escherichia coli which is encoded by both galU and galF genes. The first part of this project investigated amino acids that could play an important role in the function of UDP Glc PPase (GalU). Based …