Digital Commons Network^™

Form Based Codes And Economic Impacts: A Multivariate Regression Analysis And Case Study, Jacob M. Howard

Master's Theses

After a 100-year history, traditional zoning practices are being challenged as a contributing factor in a number of social, heath and economic problems facing cities in the United States. In this context, form based codes have emerged as a possible alternative way for cities to guide development. Growing out of the New Urbanist movement, form based codes frequently mix uses, allow for a greater variety of housing types and encourage development that is both denser and more compact. Despite an established literature which links land-use regulations, and zoning in particular, to fiscal outcomes, the impacts that form based codes have …

Ridership Ramp-Up For Fixed-Guideway Transit Projects: An Evaluation Of Initial Ridership Variation, Jill Elizabeth Shinn

Master's Theses

Performance-based planning and programming has increased in popularity for transit project funding in recent years. This methodology focuses on quantitative performance measures to inform decision making. For transit projects, projections or observed ridership is the most commonly used performance measure to evaluate project benefits. Conventional wisdom within the transit industry suggests that measuring the performance of a transit project immediately after project opening may not capture all the project’s benefits, since it takes time for a project to realize its short-term ridership potential, a process commonly referred to as ridership ramp-up. While this idea is both intuitive and appealing, especially …

Comparative Transcriptomic Analysis Of Developmental Stages In Isolated Mammary Epithelial Cells, Nicole K. Einfalt

Master's Theses

The mammary gland is an organ common to all mammals; it is of value for neonatal nourishment, human nutrition through dairy consumption, and is a source of pathology in humans through the development of breast cancer. While transcriptomic analyses have been applied to cultured mammary epithelial cells (MEC) and to whole gland samples, few have studied purified MEC isolated directly from the gland in vivo. To identify the differentially expressed genes influencing MEC development during pregnancy and the differences between the nulliparous and primiparous quiescent states, primary MEC were isolated from virgin, pregnant, and primiparous quiescent sibling mice. Computational …

Bi-Stability In The Wakes Of Platooning Ahmed Bodies, Daniel M. Stalters

Master's Theses

Autonomous heavy vehicles will enable the promise of decreased energy consumption through the ability to platoon in closer formation than is currently safe or legal. It is therefore increasingly important to understand the complex and dynamic wake interactions between vehicles operating in close proximity for aerodynamic gains. In recent years, a growing body of research has documented a bi-stable, shifting wake generated behind the Ahmed reference bluff body. At the same time, studies of platooning Ahmed bodies have focused on changes to the body forces and moments at different following distances or lateral offsets, typically based around time-averaged measurements or …

Application Of Data Analytics For Prediction Of Suicide Rates At The State And National Levels, Derek Benson

Master's Theses

The increasing suicide rate in the United States has amplified the need to assure that regions with high suicide risk receive adequate funding for programs and related resources for prevention methods. The way in which organizations dedicated to preventing suicides distribute funding could be improved with the development of predictive models for suicide rates. In this study, a multiple linear regression model at a national level was developed to identify relevant factors associated with suicide. The national level model was developed in two phases; the first using response variable data and explanatory variable data from the same time period, and …

Presence Of Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Spp. In Backyard Poultry And Their Environment, Nicole Land

Master's Theses

As keeping backyard poultry rises, human contact with zoonotic pathogens will increase. One such pathogen that backyard enthusiasts have exposure risks to is Salmonella spp. which may cause a potential public health threat due to its increasing multidrug resistancy. Salmonella spp. were present in 33 of 50 samples collected from 29 sites with backyard poultry coops in San Luis Obispo County during March to May in 2014. Two different Hardy-CHROME™ Salmonella Selective Media plates were used to culture and isolate positive samples of Salmonella spp.. Each positive isolate was tested for antimicrobial sensitivity to 6 standard antibiotics: Ampicillin, Bacitracin, …

Midpoint And Endpoint Sustainability Assessment Of U.S. And China Manufacturing: A Comparative Mrio+Recipe Analysis, Mustafa Saber

Master's Theses

Manufacturing is among the most important industries for an economy, which creates value-added, fosters innovation, stimulates employment and economic growth. Therefore, manufacturing industries are crucial for a country’s sustainable development not only for economic reasons but also for social (.e.g. employment, tax, etc.) and environmental ones. Thus, manufacturing activities’ contribution to the economy is critically related with environmental and social impacts. Sustainable economic growth is essential and necessary for a country to provide all necessary goods and services to its growing population.

And, this is highly linke with the creation of new jobs and in this context, manufacturing jobs have …

Assessing Risk In Iot Devices, David Levitsky

Master's Theses

The explosive growth of the Internet of Things ecosystem has thrust these devices into the center of our lives. Unfortunately, the desire to create these devices has been stronger than the one to secure them. Recent attacks have shown us ignoring security in Internet of Things devices can cause severe harm in both a digital and physical sense. This thesis outlines a framework for developers and managers to assess the risk of IoT devices using a weighted scoring system across five different categories. Our case studies suggest that devices with higher security considerations have a better security posture and lower …

Global Renewable And Nonrenewable Energy Use Impact Assessment Of U.S. Manufacturing: An Integrated Cradle-To-Gate Lca And Dea Approach, Bahadir Ezici

Master's Theses

In this thesis, U.S. manufacturing industries` global supply chain-linked energy use and economic output are investigated considering a total of 16 renewable and nonrenewable energy carriers. A multiregion input output (MRIO) framework is employed to conduct the global supply chain-linked energy use impact assessment. The study period was between 1995 and 2014 based on data availability. Thus, 20 MRIO models were developed. Each MRIO model consists of the 40 largest economies of the world and the rest of the world (ROW) as the 41st country. Each country’s economy was structured into 35 manufacturing and service industries based on the Worth …

Progressing Flight: A Transformative And Somatically-Informed Performance Practice For The Aerial Dance Student Practitioner, Rosalinda Rojas

Master's Theses

Somatic based methods is an emerging area of interest within the subject area of dance study and more recent in aerial movement practice. Somatic movement experiences have inherent, distinctive and transformative characteristics to deepen understanding and knowledge of the concept of soma. This thesis investigates how somatic based exercises might influence physical strength, endurance, body awareness and sensitivity in an original research design. The study incorporates Progressing Ballet Technique or traditional based aerial circus methods with an aim to answer three essential questions. How might the use of somatic based or traditional aerial movement methods improve students’ muscular strength and …

Improving Student Skills Through Video-Guided Assessments In The Dance Classroom, Kate Elizabeth Secor

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to improve novice dance students’ technique and skill level through the use of video-guided summative assessments in the public high school classroom. The assessments and associated classroom activities examine how the use of video cameras can enhance movement instruction and promote the advancement of student skills if implemented in a meaningful way. The research was conducted in one semester with an introductory level dance class where nineteen student participants filmed themselves performing ballet exercises at the beginning and end of the semester. Participants and researcher assessed these videos using specific movement-based rubrics that measured …

Cultivating And Fostering Creativity, Communication, Collaboration And Critical Thinking Through The Choreographic Dance Making Process: A Dance Curriculum For Urban Elementary Students, Kristen Sylvia Mercer

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to determine how the four skills of creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration are defined and how dance making and choreography might be taught to urban elementary students in a way that also teaches each of these four skills. The thesis attempted to answer the four research questions by reviewing existing literature and qualitatively mining and analyzing the data in order to discover techniques and ideas that could be used to design the desired curriculum. The researcher used a similar process to understand how dance making might best be taught to elementary school children, …

Collaborating, Creating And Implementing: A Cohesive Project-Based Learning Social Studies Unit With The Goal Of Deepening Third Grade Student Learning Experiences, Sarah Avery Kulchinsky

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to integrate dance in a social studies project-based learning (PBL) unit. The incorporation of dance in this unit was not only a learning experience for the students, but for the dance teacher and classroom teacher alike. The teachers worked cooperatively to plan and create this unit of study and through their collaboration taught the subject using their individual teaching styles. The classroom teacher used traditional instructional methods, while the dance teacher taught the same subject matter through the use of movement and dance. Throughout the unit, the teachers consulted to ensure student learning …

Teaching Musical Theatre Skills In The Performance-Based Classroom: James And The Giant Peach, Kelsey Alys Meiklejohn

Master's Theses

The popularity of musical theatre in America is driving more students to seek out performance opportunities while theatre classrooms are facing dwindling attendance rates. The goal of this thesis is to determine whether it is possible to employ the mounting of a full-scale musical production of James and the Giant Peach in a classroom setting to motivate student growth in acting, singing, and dance due to the product-oriented environment. The complex material in the script and score of James and the Giant Peach was adequately challenging to necessitate and promote significant student growth as musical theatre performers. Through working on …

The Boys Next Door: Progressing Disability Awareness And Representation Through Inclusive Production Practices, Shelby Lewis

Master's Theses

The Boys Next Door was a progressive and popular piece of theatre when first produced in 1986 and remains a ripe tool for spreading disability consciousness if mounted with research and respect. Playwright, Tom Griffin, chronicles a series of amusing and meaningful events in the lives of four men with varying levels of cognitive impairments told through the lens of Jack Palmer, their able-bodied supervisor. The goal of this thesis production was to illuminate the opportunities, challenges, and considerations required to produce this play with a message that is progressive to the goals of the disability community rather than detrimental. …

Venom Composition Of Little Known Mountain Rattlesnakes And Predator-Prey Interactions Of Crotalus Pricei Pricei And Its Natural Prey, Sceloporus Jarrovii, Emily Grabowsky

Master's Theses

The Crotalus intermedius clade is a small group composed of four species: C. intermedius, C. transversus, C. pricei, and the recently identified C. tancitarensis (Alvarado-Díaz and Campbell, 2004; Reyes-Valesco et al. 2013). Though these species are restricted to high elevations of Sky Islands of southern Arizona and throughout México, little has been reported about their natural history and basic biology, including venom composition. Specifically, the Western Twin-spotted Rattlesnake (C. pricei pricei) is a small lizard specialist restricted to the more northern Sky Islands of México, with isolated populations in southern Arizona, where they are a protected species. …

Nanosatellite Launch Data-Logger (Sync), Christopher Martin Gerdom

Master's Theses

CubeSat designers are increasingly looking to incorporate delicate structures and optics into their payloads. These delicate payloads, however, may not survive the required absolute-worst-case launch vibration testing needed for flight certification. To help address this problem, and to better match testing conditions to real-world launch environments, this thesis introduces Sync, a compact 1/4U CubeSat payload designed to collect data on the vibrations and thermal environments CubeSats experience inside a deployer on the way to orbit. This data can be used to better understand the launch environment for different vehicles, and help develop new, more realistic testing guidelines that could enable …

Amplifying The Prediction Of Team Performance Through Swarm Intelligence And Machine Learning, Erick Michael Harris

Master's Theses

Modern companies are increasingly relying on groups of individuals to reach organizational goals and objectives, however many organizations struggle to cultivate optimal teams that can maximize performance. Fortunately, existing research has established that group personality composition (GPC), across five dimensions of personality, is a promising indicator of team effectiveness. Additionally, recent advances in technology have enabled groups of humans to form real-time, closed-loop systems that are modeled after natural swarms, like flocks of birds and colonies of bees. These Artificial Swarm Intelligences (ASI) have been shown to amplify performance in a wide range of tasks, from forecasting financial markets to …

Art As Invitation: The Effects Of Including Art Education In The Curriculum Of A Preschool Classroom Of Refugee Students, Nancy Heckmann Erekson

Master's Theses

This study is about how art constitutes an invitation for marginalized people. Refugees are the uninvited, and often remain on the periphery of host communities. This research examines how artmaking acts as an invitation for refugee preschool students and their families to connect with the broader community. I approached data collection through the method of educational connoisseurship and educational criticism and the theory of relational aesthetics. I analyzed data from observations conducted in a refugee preschool classroom and from interviews with six families. Further, I analyzed observations and surveys from a public exhibit of children’s art. These sources provided data …

Dancing The Diaspora: Discovering The Influence Of Traditional And Tribal African Dance In The History Of African-American Social And Concert Dance In The Caribbean And The United States, Kerri-Noelle Humphrey

Master's Theses

The primary goal of this research project was to identify the influence of traditional African dance on African diasporic dance in the Caribbean and the United States. The study demonstrated how movement connects people and gives them the opportunity to share common experiences, ideas, and traditions. This qualitative and quantitative study was designed to answer four essential questions. Q1 What is traditional African dance? Q2 What is Black (Africanist) dance? Q3 How the elements of dance (Time, Space, Energy) can be used to help students make comparisons between African tribal dance and a variety of Africanist dance genres? Q4 How …

Perceptions Of Technology In Dance Education: The Effect Of Technology On Student Learning And Teaching Strategies Of The Twenty-First Century Skills In Dance Education, Anna Kristine Gradwohl

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to assist educators in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in a dance classroom to teach the twenty-firstcentury- skills of creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. This research evaluated perceptions of technology integration through the lens of fifty-four current dance educators with a goal of discovering the effects technology has on teaching strategies and student learning in a dance classroom. The research instrument used in this study was an electronic survey that included both quantitative and qualitative questions to analyze the data. The data suggested that current dance educators supported the use of …

Vitality Of Water/Vitalidad Del Agua: Our Sacred Connection To Water And How We Can Interpret The Importance Of Water Through Artistic Inquiry, Jenifer Fogarty

Master's Theses

Water has appeared in the work and study of artists for centuries. There are countless aspects of water to be explored, from the sheer physical qualities of water to the spiritual, political, and practical associations with water. Water is what gives us life, and yet the vitality of this precious resource has been threatened over time. This exploration highlights important aspects of the study of water through art-making. My exploration began in the studio while making my own work. I sought to create a multi-sensory environment where viewers could participate and be immersed in the work itself. The site-specific installation …

Postpartum Depression In The News Media, Lauren Michelle Mcdonald

Master's Theses

The current study analyzed the relationship between gender constructs and the construction of illness in the news media. Drawing on Entman’s (1993) framing analysis, the present study assessed if postpartum depression was constructed in the news media differently for men and women. Using LexisNexis, 153 news media articles were collected from major United States news sources between 1994-2016 using keywords such as, postpartum depression and paternal depression. The content analysis indicated that the definition of postpartum depression, the cause of the illness, the moral evaluations and the prescribed treatments were related to gender constructs. Overall, these findings enhance our understanding …

Posttraumatic Stress And Hazardous Alcohol Use In College Students: The Moderating Role Of Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies, Hallie R. Jordan

Master's Theses

The present study evaluated the moderating role of alcohol protective behavioral strategy subtypes (Al-PBS; Serious Harm Reduction [SHR], Manner of Drinking [MOD], Stopping/Limiting Drinking [SLD]) and gender on the relationships between traumatic stress symptoms and both hazardous drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. Participants were 915 traditional age (18 to 25 years old) college students from nine universities in the United States who reported drinking in the past. All participants reported their gender and completed measures of traumatic stress symptoms, Al-PBS use, hazardous drinking, and alcohol-related negative consequences through an online survey. Experiencing greater traumatic stress symptoms was associated with both …

Parental Attachment And Adult Attachment: The Moderating Role Of Dispositional Forgiveness And Gratitude, Christian Ammons

Master's Theses

Secure parental attachment, characterized by trust, care, and autonomy granting, is associated with improved psychological functioning and adjustment to college and is often associated with adult attachment relationships. Similarly, adult attachment, a characteristic of adult relationships, has been associated with improved college adjustment. Individual differences such as dispositional forgiveness and gratitude are often associated with secure adult attachment but have not been examined in relation to parent child attachment. The current study examined dispositional forgiveness and gratitude as moderators of the relationship between parental attachment and adult attachment. A sample of 185 college students participated and as expected, parental attachment …

Vulnerable Narcissism, Self-Criticism, And Self-Injurious Behavior: Emotion Regulation As A Moderator, Philip Stoner

Master's Theses

College students of traditional age have an elevated risk of self-injury (McManus et al., 2015). Self-injurious behavior (SIB) often indicates increased mental health concerns and elevated suicide risk (Whitlock, Eckenrode & Silverman, 2006). Self-criticism represents a non-physical form of self-injury (Baetens, et al., 2015), which is also associated with psychological distress and suicidal behavior. Thus, it is important to understand the risk factors associated with SIB and self-criticism. Vulnerable narcissism has been linked to self-injury (Dawood et al., 2017); however, there is little consensus about the nature of this relationship. Moreover, vulnerable narcissism has been associated with impaired emotion regulation …

The Effect Of Changing Appraisals Of Current Life Success On Memories Of Love Towards Parents, Mario Herrera

Master's Theses

As we experience successes and failures in life, do we bias our memories of childhood? Cognitive appraisal theory would predict that emotions are elicited based on the current appraisal of an event or person. There is some research that these current appraisals can also distort memories of emotions surrounding an event. No past research has investigated whether current appraisal of life success would affect important autobiographical memories. Here, we examine the effects on childhood memory of love felt towards parents. Due to current appraisal theory, we expected memory of love towards parents would be prone to distortion and bias. We …

Psychopathic Personality Traits As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Social Intelligence And Relational Aggression, Savannah Merold

Master's Theses

Social intelligence has been identified as one of many predictors of relational aggression. It is likely that a certain level of social intelligence may be necessary for relationally aggressive behaviors to be effective (e.g., some ability to understand human behavior is necessary to effectively harm others through the manipulation of status, social relationships, or sense of belonging). And yet, social intelligence is unlikely to be sufficient to produce relationally aggressive behavior. Merely because someone has the requisite levels of social intelligence to use relational aggression does not mean that he or she will be motivated to do so. There is …

Increasing Teachers' Use Of Behavior Specific Praise Via A Smart Watch, Kristi White

Master's Theses

This study evaluated the effects of a teacher prompting procedure to increase teacher behavior specific praise using a Smart Watch. Participants included three Head Start general education teachers. An ABAB design across participants was used to examine the effects of Smart Watch-based prompts on teachers’ praise rate. The study consisted of four phases: a) baseline, b) teacher praise training and intervention, c) withdrawal from intervention, and d) intervention reinstated. Implementation of the intervention resulted in increases of average behavior specific praise rates and general praise rates for all three participants. Although, averages fail to reach criterion set by the researcher …

The Song Style Of Antonio Carlos Jobim: An Analysis Of Four Songs, Rachel Rogers

Master's Theses

The songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim are a national treasure of Brazil, beloved around the world. Their beauty and subtle simplicity have enthralled audiences for the last 60 years, yet they often reveal some unusual construction. Following the lead of other Brazilian theorists, this study was commenced with the belief that applying rigorous theoretical analysis to bossa nova would show its qualityand enduring worth. Four songs were selected for analysis based on their importance in Jobim’s career and their centrality to the bossa nova genre, “Chega de Saudade,” “Corcovado,” “Insensatez,” and “Garota de Ipanema.” They are among the most recorded …