Digital Commons Network^™

Characteristics And Potential Sources Of Single-Use Plastics Debris In Two Aquatic Systems In New Haven, Connecticut, Ohene Boakye Adomako

Master's Theses

Plastic debris remains a major problem in aquatic ecosystems. This study provides an assessment of the proportion, potential sources, and geographic origin of plastics and other solid waste debris (PSWD) in both freshwater and marine systems in New Haven City, Connecticut. Data was collected through four (4) cleanup events within the Long Wharf Park (LWP) and West River Memorial Park (WRMP), working with community scientists in the New Haven area (CT) in May, September, and October, 2024. A total gross weight of 417 lb of PSWD was collected in approximately 1.4 km (0.9 mile) altogether in LWP and WRMP. The …

Building Foundations For Success: A Study On Aligning Expectations And Realities In College Dance Programs, Ashley Walker Anderson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to take the information gathered from surveys and interviews with the participants and analyze the impact of the gaps between their expectations and realities, and the gap between the overall effectiveness and success of college dance programs in preparing students for their post-graduation goals. The goal of the researcher was to answer the following questions.

Q1 What factors determine where dancers attend college?

Q2 Are high schoolers making their college wish list based on prestige, faculty, performance opportunities, tuition cost, course requirements, career goals, or perhaps a combination of multiple factors?

Q3 Are …

Crafting Affective Engagement: The Impact Of Choreography And Design Choices On Audience's Emotional Experience In Dance Performances, Amy Morton

Master's Theses

This thesis explored how the engagement level of dance spectators influenced the lasting impressions they retain from a performance and whether these impressions can expand and sustain audience interest in dance. The purpose of the study was to identify the most engaging elements of an aerial dance concert. The study emphasized the significance of creating choreography that evokes emotional responses to advocate for dance education, community engagement, and the preservation of the art form. By examining a site-specific aerial dance concert, this research identified the elements that captivated audiences, particularly the contrast between aerial and ground-based performances.

The research addressed …

Social Justice In Dance: The Exploration Of Dance As A Tool For Promoting, Recognizing And Influencing Change, Michelle O'Konis Linnehan

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to prove that dance could be used as a platform for representation and to foster change within the community and beyond. This purpose aligned with the goal, which was to measure the impact of a structured choreographic curriculum on student engagement with social justice topics. The goal of this study was to answer the following research questions:

Q1 Can dance be a tool in promoting social justice?

Q2 How will students in the classroom respond to an integrated social justice theme through dance and production components?

Q3 How will these topics be interpreted to …

Rape Beyond Fantasy: Exploring The Influence Of Booktok's Erotica And Dark Romance Literature On Young Adult Perceptions Of Consent And Boundaries, Teagan Bailey Fortune

Master's Theses

Advances in technology and media, particularly TikTok, have had a significant impact on the younger generation. BookTok, a community that emerged from TikTok, is a platform where users can promote, share, and discuss book recommendations, using “spice level” or chili emojis to indicate the rating of explicit content. While recommendations often focus on erotica and dark romance fiction, concerns arise when such content glamorizes and normalizes rape culture, especially for young adults (YA). The normalization of toxic relationships can potentially influence YA perceptions of consent and boundaries. This study explores how YA perceive rape culture and consent in erotica and …

Investigation Of Social Networks Upon Academic Performance And Mental Health, Rachel Izenson

Master's Theses

It has been shown that computing students have a statistically significantly lower overall sense of belongingness compared to other science students. A sense of community is important for many reasons. For example, there are studies that show that a student's sense of belonging correlates with improved academic performance. Our research aims to analyze the sense of belonging among computing students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo through a network science lens. We surveyed for their sense of belonging, as well as their social network, to understand how friendships impact one's sense of belonging. When student responses were split by gender, …

Exploring The Therapeutic Benefits Of Dance In The Academic Schedule: The Effects On Stress Among High School Students, Amanda Polanowski

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the minds of dance students about the stress they experienced as a result of their academic schedules and extracurriculars. The following research questions informed this study:

Q1 Does incorporating dance into the academic schedule lower stress in high school students?

Q2 In what mental state are students before and after taking dance class?

Q3 Does dance provide mental health benefits for high school students?

Student stress was evaluated before the study using a questionnaire as well as before and after each dance class through surveys. Eighteen students participated in a …

I Belong Here: How Culturally Responsive Learning Builds Community And Acceptance In The Dance Classroom Of A Public School System, Britteny Dorothy Hyslip

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gauge the impact of culturally responsive educational practices on a public school dance class through evaluations of students taking part in the class. This study aimed to see how a dance course written with culturally responsive learning practices positively impacts public school students from a behavioral and social-emotional aspect. Two essential questions were used in this thesis study.

Q1 Why is the diversity of dance important in a diverse school district?

Q2 How can the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education scale for culturally responsive learning be reframed for performing arts education …

Exploring Audience Perceptions Of Elementary School Dance Curriculum: Utilizing Informance To Investigate Beliefs Regarding The Presentation Of Student Learning In Dance, Michaela Summers

Master's Theses

The goal of this thesis was to gain insight into the perceptions and expectations of audiences in relation to elementary school dance education curriculum and its representation through showcases or displays, particularly within the context of viewing an informance. The researcher developed three research questions to guide the study:

Q1 What are audience perceptions of elementary school dance education pedagogy and curriculum?

Q2 What methods do audiences expect to be implemented in an elementary school dance performance?

Q3 Can utilizing informances affect audience perceptions of elementary school dance education, thus changing their expectations for dance performance methods?

Thirty-eight audience members …

Psychological Impacts Of Competitive Dance: Understanding Mental Health And Team Dynamics Among Young Dancers, Gloria E. Brunner

Master's Theses

The purpose of the research was to investigate deeply into the psychological aspects of competitive dance and its influence on the mental well-being of young dancers. Competitive dance has grown significantly in popularity, fueled by reality television shows and social media platforms, creating a high-pressure environment for participants. This research investigated the unique stressors faced by young dancers including performance anxiety, body image concerns, and burnout, while also identifying coping strategies and the positive personal development fostered through dance.

To uncover more information about the positive and negative effects of competition dance, the researcher focused the study on the following …

They Can't Know I Wanna Kiss Robots: Stigma And Audience Segregation In Fanfiction, Micah Arrow Callin

Master's Theses

Fanfiction writers have long faced public stigma, which emerged with the rise of fandom and, according to recent claims, may be lessening as fandom identities gain wider acceptance. However, the practice of fanfiction writers intentionally segregating their audiences remains a deeply embedded aspect of fandom culture, with limited understanding of its underlying motivations. The purpose of this study was to analyze the audience segregation employed by online fanfiction authors in order to understand why they choose to segregate their audiences, and specifically to determine the influence of social stigma on these choices, answering these main questions: Is there segregation between …

Exploring The Impact Of Dance Arts Integration On General Education Teaching Practices: Insights Into Classroom Environment, Planning, Instruction, And Assessment, Sara Kessler-Kennon

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of dance arts integration facilitation on teaching practices by emphasizing classroom environment, planning, instruction, and assessment. The researcher created the following four essential questions to guide the study:

Q1 How does incorporating movement-based arts integration alter classroom environment, student behavior, student engagement, and inclusivity of students with various abilities and diverse backgrounds?

Q2 How does incorporating movement-based arts integration impact the general educators' planning time, process, style, and understanding? Does the general educator feel as though they can effectively incorporate movement-based arts integration without collaborating with a dance educator? …

Analyzing The Influence Of Faculty Diversity On Dance Education In Texas High Schools: A Case Study Of Representation In Dance Programs, Aransas Lazo

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between cultural diversity among high school dance instructors and its subsequent impact on students' experiences in high school dance education. The researcher used two types of instrumentation to collect the data: semi-structured interview questions and an online survey. The semi-structured interview questions were researcher-developed and open-ended, allowing the eight participants to provide detailed responses regarding their experiences as a dance instructor, cultural diversity, Texas Education Association (TEA) standards, and the requirements for their dance program. The survey questions asked Yes/No/Unsure questions that involved such questions related to faculty diversity, cultural …

Investigating Nekton Response To Changing Salinities In The Mississippi Sound: An Experimental And Statistical Approach, Adam Murray

Master's Theses

The Mississippi Sound provides nursery habitats for many coastal species and is recognized for its commercial fisheries. Previous freshening events linked to the Bonnet Carré Spillway, a Mississippi River flood diversion structure, proved catastrophic for oyster populations in the Mississippi Sound, but effects on mobile fish and shellfish species are not well-defined. The planned Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion (MBSD), an initiative to combat wetland loss, is also forecasted to lower salinities in the region, increasing the need to better understand responses of commercially and ecologically important species to freshening events. The objective of this study was to characterize effects of salinity …

Soldiers In The Sideshows: The 409th Infantry Regiment In World War Ii, Nicholas Garrett

Master's Theses

In the European Theater of World War II certain battlefields or campaigns such as Operation Overlord, Operation Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge are core aspects of American memory. However, the men of the 409^th Infantry Regiment of the 103^rd Infantry Division do not fall into this image. This unit fought as part of the U.S. Seventh Army across eastern France through the Vosges Mountains, defended against the German Operation Nordwind and broke through the Siegfried Line into southeastern Germany. Though the 409^th represents a small portion of the men of the 103^rd, …

Increasing Pride Skills For Child Engagement Using Ipcit With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jordan Etherington

Master's Theses

Many children with autism spectrum disorder display elevated levels of problem behaviors, such as aggression and defiance, in addition to symptoms characteristic of autism, such as deficits in social communication and interaction. Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a behavioral parent training program designed to improve problem behavior in young children by teaching parents to use skills that reinforce appropriate behaviors. In addition, the interactive nature of PCIT may help children with autism increase the rates at which they engage and interact with their caregivers. There are many barriers to treatment completion in PCIT, including high attrition rates due to …

Nature-Based Solutions For Flood Risk Mitigation: Mapping And Hydrological Modeling In An Under-Resourced Urban Area On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Jennifer Makenzie Holifield

Master's Theses

Flooding is the most frequent and costly disaster in the United States, affecting people disproportionately based on environmental, societal, and economic limitations. Through stakeholder engagement, open-access research, and nature-based solutions (NBS), ecology and hydrology can be bridged with local-scale politics to raise awareness of local issues and form strong interdisciplinary bonds. I approached nature-based equity from a ground front, in which I engaged with local stakeholders and city officials to gain insight and calibration on flooding experiences and flooding presence within Moss Point, MS. This engagement helped calibrate GIS models, from which, I found that the flooding hazards of Moss …

Fight At The Museum: An Ethnographic Study Investigating Staff And Volunteers At Wwii Museums And Memorials, Miranda Noland

Master's Theses

Museums are places where events of the past can be explained, appreciated, and understood. While efforts are often taken to provide a neutral position in the presentation of complicated and emotional historical events, there may exist external pressure to present a more overtly nationalist narrative to please a particular audience or group of funders (Fujitani 1997). This creates a conflict of interest with respect to fair, accurate, and/or honest representation (White 1997b) for museum staff to navigate.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate stories that museums are permitted to tell within the context of Japanese and American narratives …

Lack Of Inflammatory Response In Mouse Embryonic Cells To Listeria Infection, Damilola Oyebode

Master's Theses

Approximately 1 in 5 pregnancies in the United States results in miscarriage, with a significant percentage of these losses attributed to failed implantation due to immunological challenges encountered by the early embryo. Recent research has shown that key cell types within mouse blastocysts, including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and trophoblast stem cells (TSCs), exhibit remarkable resilience against the cytotoxic effects associated with viral infections and embryotoxic cytokines, such as TNFα and IFNγ, both of which are known to hinder blastocyst development. However, the immune properties of the preimplantation stage embryo, specifically the blastocyst, remain poorly understood. Using mouse cell model, …

French Foreign Policy And Its Tendencies While Approaching International Relations Through Multilateralism, Dipin Subedi

Master's Theses

This paper studies the pattern of French foreign policy with respect to one objective: whether through the means available – namely economic, diplomatic, and military – it adheres to the principle of achieving multilateral goals or not. The multilateral institutions that are used in this study as a ground for comparison are NATO, the E.U., and the U.N. all of whom hold France as their member. Nine different categories with distinct characteristics are created that contain one primary case study. Certain expectations on how France could deal with the nation in a particular case study is gathered through hints contained …

A Study Of The Ceramics At The Ebert Canebrake Site (1mc25), Andrew Patterson

Master's Theses

The Ebert Canebrake site is a small multi-component village in Macon County, Alabama. The primary focus of this thesis is to explain the presence of two distinct ceramic traditions on-site during the Mississippi period (AD 1000-1450). Local Shine II ceramics are typified by sand tempering and are related to the Lamar culture of eastern Georgia and western Alabama. Big Eddy phase ceramics are typified by shell tempering and Moundville-like designs from the Black Warrior River Valley in western Alabama. The temporal and spatial relationship of these materials on site is examined through an artifact analysis based upon stratified samples recovered …

Real-Time Network Simulations For Ml/Dl Ddos Detection Using Docker, Luis D. Garcia

Master's Theses

As the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) within cybersecurity continues to

grow, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) models are increasingly used to

detect cyber attacks. However, these models are rarely evaluated in real-time attack

scenarios to see how subtle changes from the real networking environment can affect

their predictions. To address this issue, we propose a scalable, platform-independent

Docker testbed specifically designed for simulating real-time Distributed Denial of

Service (DDoS) attack scenarios that allows researchers to deploy and evaluate their

pre-trained, ML and DL detection models. Our framework is simple to configure

and can run across Intel and …

The Application Of Generative Ai For Sketch-To-Image Conversion, Jeremy J. Kozlowski

Master's Theses

Sketches have historically been the primary way to identify individuals when images are unavailable. Most commonly, this appears in a police investigation, where the police release a sketch to the public in an attempt to find a suspect. However, sketches occasionally do not provide much detail due to the limitations of both the witness and the artist. A poor sketch greatly hinders the public’s ability to identify someone, decreasing the chances they will be found. To improve upon this inefficient way of identifying individuals, we propose a new pipeline that leverages deep generative artificial intelligence models to create detailed images …

Finite Element Analysis And Verification Of Transverse Mechanical Properties Of Generally Cylindrical Orthotropic Constitutive Modeling Of 3-Phase Nanocomposite Unit Cell, Christopher J. Hawkins

Master's Theses

Fiber-reinforced composites are increasingly popular due to their specific strength and stiffness, making them ideal for high-performance applications. However, these materials primarily exhibit superior properties in-plane, while their out-of-plane characteristics remain comparatively weaker. Previous research has shown that the most effective method to enhance out-of-plane properties involves the incorporation of carbon nanotubes. Experimental tests have demonstrated significant improvements in properties such as tension, flexural, short beam shear, and fracture toughness. Alongside these experimental studies, analytical equations have been developed to predict the behavior of these composites under various loading conditions, including tension, bending, shear, and fracture. Existing models primarily address …

Joseph Moxon: Fueled By Science, Extinguished By Class. How A Forgotten Middle-Classed Early Modern English Puritan Printer Mathematician And Globe-Maker Helped Forge The Scientific Revolution And Democratize Knowledge Among The Trades, Kenneth L. Macro Jr.

Master's Theses

Joseph Moxon, raised within the trades, elevated into the middle-class, was an inducted Fellow of the Royal Society, Hydrographer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, Printer, Author, Translator, Maker of Globes and of Spheres, Maker of Maps and of Mathematical Instruments, Engraver, and Entrepreneur. Moxon was the quintessential Renaissance Man. A tradesman living in a time of great scientific intrigue and discovery, Moxon, acknowledged by few mid-seventeenth century historians, rightfully contributed his scientific discoveries—in the forms of tutorials and manuals written for the common man—as a testimony to all printers who have helped in the progression of the Scientific Revolution. …

Victory Gardens: Helping On The Home Front, A Curriculum Outreach Project, Kelly Hoomes

Master's Theses

The Victory Garden: Helping on the Homefront traveling trunk outreach project links past, present, and future by introducing students to the historical significance of World War II victory gardens and emphasizing the continued relevance today. Partnering with Kennesaw State University’s Museum of History and Holocaust Education (MHHE), the traveling trunk focuses on a fifth-grade audience, aligning with Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies, Health, and Science. The traveling trunk designed as a “museum-in-a-box" includes primary sources, artifacts, and a practical gardening activity that fosters critical thinking and analysis. By encouraging an understanding of the past and the connections to …

Policies And Price Controls On The Research And Development Of Orphan Drugs In The United States And The European Union, Bena Pearl Filipczak Smith

Master's Theses

There is substantive literature surrounding the impact of price controls on the research and development (R&D) of new pharmaceutical products. The European Union (EU) and United States (US) are often studied in contrast to examine the influence of price controls as the US has fewer pharmaceutical price controls than the EU.

We find moderate evidence that the US spent more on annual domestic pharmaceutical R&D than the EU between 2004 and 2021, on average, before and after adjusting for GDP growth per capita and year. We find strong evidence that the US increased annual domestic R&D spending at a faster …

Exploring Customer Behavior Through Emotion Detection, Darlington Omoifo

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the potential of emotion detection, gaze tracking, and hand movement analysis as tools to enhance understanding of customer behavior in retail environments. In retail, subtle indicators such as facial expressions, gaze direction, and hand gestures provide valuable insights into customer preferences and decision-making processes. The study leverages real-time video processing with a multithreaded approach on a Raspberry Pi-powered system embedded in a gift cart equipped with dual cameras. Using FER for emotion detection and a custom model for gaze and hand tracking, this research identifies customer engagement patterns, focusing on how emotions like happiness correlate with purchasing …

Techno-Economic Analysis Of Waste Plastic Gasification, Henrik Don-Yor Ketting

Master's Theses

The increasing generation of plastic waste and its environmental impact has driven interest in alternative disposal methods such as gasification. This study presents a techno-economic analysis of the gasification of waste plastics, specifically polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), to produce syngas. A two-stage process—thermal decomposition followed by steam reforming—was simulated using Aspen Plus. The simulation results were validated against experimental data available in the literature. The economic analysis was conducted by estimating the capital and operating costs of the gasification plant, considering factors such as feedstock costs, energy requirements, and syngas purification systems. Net Present Value Calculations were used to …

Are College Students' Grocery Shopping Habits Consistent With The Mediterranean Diet Guidelines? A Preliminary Report, Montana Grace Ayala

Master's Theses

The number of people diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes mellitus continues to grow. The Mediterranean diet has been shown to reduce the risks of developing heart disease. Fruit and vegetable consumption is low across the country. Improving fruit and vegetable consumption for adults might start with improving intake earlier in life because it can influence better food habits. Following the Mediterranean diet at a young age can prevent chronic diseases from developing. It is well known that college students have diets that are not consistent with healthy eating habits and can be influenced by the need for …