Digital Commons Network^™

Clinical Assessment Of Repetitive And Restricted Behaviors In Toddlers On The Autism Spectrum, Katelynn Porto

Master's Theses

Repetitive and restricted behaviors (RRBs) are core symptoms of ASD and often emerge in the first year of life. It is important to understand how best to integrate diagnostically relevant information from multiple methods of assessment in clinical settings. The study aims to characterize the association between parent report and clinical observation of RRBs, compare the utility of each method for eliciting information on RRBs, and characterize the presentation of RRBs in toddlers at the time of initial diagnosis. Participants were 65 children ages 18-39 months diagnosed with ASD. Associations between a parent report rating scale, clinician-driven parent interview, and …

Associations Of Cardiovascular Health, Strength, And Physical Activity In Participants With A History Of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Kirsten Allen

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Comparative Genomics Of Six Juglans Species Reveals Disease-Associated Gene Family Contractions, Alexander Trouern-Trend

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Innovation Dynamics Of Cultural Production: Evidence In Rap Lyrics, James M. Zumel Dumlao, Junjie Lei, Emeka Nwosu, Li Yu Oon, Tsai Ling Jeffrey Wong, James Rising, Jesse Anttila-Hughes

Master's Theses

Culture is a driving force in organizing the structure of societies, and is conjoined with economic development. However, quantifying the impact of culture is difficult. Culture manifests itself in cultural production, through art, performance, music, etc. Innovation and influence in cultural production industries partially determines product quality. Using techniques from the “digitized humanities”, we agnostically identify informational distance to describe the spatiotemporal dynamics of innovation and influence in Rap music lyrics. Rap emphasizes lyricism and hometown pride more than other genres of popular music, and is interesting as a globally impactful manifestation of the racially segregated labor market in the …

Identity, Activism, And Rap In The Filipino American Diaspora, Scott Cooper

Master's Theses

For close to two decades, an established network of Filipino American rap artists have developed on the West Coast of the United States. These artists share musical narratives exploring their working-class immigrant experiences as well as the impact of colonization in the Philippines. Outside of music, these artists often engage in community organizing and activism, but few scholars have explored hip hop's effect within these spaces. Recently, a younger generation of Filipino American youth actively make use of hip hop in community organizations and activist groups. This paper will specifically examine how the identity of 1.5 and second generation Filipino …

Actors As Engineers: The Reconstruction Of Antifascism In Defa Films, 1949-1961. [2020], Jonathan Herr

Master's Theses

The East German film industry (led by state film company DEFA) had, since its inception in 1946, focused heavily upon the theme of antifascism. However, the meaning and definition of antifascism changed dramatically over the course of East Germany’s early history. In DEFA’s earliest days, antifascism was a confrontation of Germany’s Nazi past and argued that capitalism was a forebearer to fascism. As the East German state formed, antifascism evolved, casting America and its unchecked capitalism as the enemy to democracy. Here DEFA films still confronted Germany’s dark past, though the end goal of the films was to promote hope …

The Relationship Between Sport Commitment With Off-Season Training Time And Previous In-Season Playing Time In College-Aged Soccer Players 2020., Luke Zuber

Master's Theses

Sport commitment is defined as “…the desire and resolve to continue sport participation” (Scanlan, Carpenter, Schmidt, Simons, & Keeler, 1993, p. 6). Since the first definition, the concept has been further refined to reflect a more multidimensional paradigm. Overall, sport commitment is thought to be comprised of the dimensions of enthusiastic commitment and constrained commitment (Scanlan, Chow, Sousa, Scanlan, & Knifsend, 2016). Those constructs can be broken down further to 12 subconstructs that are represented in the Sport Commitment – 2 (SC; Scanlan, Chow, Sousa, Scanlan, & Knifsend, 2016), in order to evaluate the source and level of an individual’s …

Stuttering And The Early Childhood Educator, Haley Jo Wesson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to gain information on early childhood educator’s knowledge of the myths and facts of stuttering. The researcher’s main question at hand is what are the effects of educator knowledge regarding fluency on young children? It was hypothesized that participants with a higher level of education will correctly identify more statements regarding stuttering than participants with a lower level of education. The researcher created a survey that was distributed to early childhood educators. The findings of the survey may be helpful in educating early childhood educators and bringing awareness to the misconceptions of stuttering.

The English Quarrel Of Crown And Mitre: Ecclesiastical Liberties From Thomas Becket To Thomas More, 1170-1535, Matthew Flanders

Master's Theses

Two rival sets of law, canon and common, warred for supremacy in England from 1170-1535. Just as with any battle, casualties followed. Where Becket and Henry II fought the first battle in this clash of legal systems, More and Henry VIII would end it. The deaths of Thomas Becket in the twelfth century and Thomas More in the sixteenth century bear a striking resemblance, but while this superficially indicates a consistency of outcome, it also probes further into a consistency of conditions which made such an outcome likely. The difference between common and canon law, and the feud born therein, …

Effects Of Exercise On Myogenic Regulatory Factors In Cancer Cachexia-Induced Skeletal Muscle Wasting, Kelsey Daehlin

Master's Theses

Cancer cachexia is a complex multiorgan syndrome that affects bodily systems such as liver, brain, fat tissue, and skeletal muscle. It is a major factor that decreases quality of life in cancer patients and is related to about 20% of cancer deaths, however exercise has shown to be effective in helping combat the muscle wasting effects that cancer cachexia has on the body. Cachexia characterized by skeletal muscle wasting which may be caused by downregulation of positive myogenic regulatory factors such as MyoD and myogenin, and upregulation of negative myogenic regulatory factors such as myostatin and MuRF-1. While it is …

Quality Of Life Among Colorectal Cancer Patients During Chemotherapy, Chau Minh Than

Master's Theses

This study had the general goal of surveying the quality of life (QoL) and related factors affecting the QoL of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients participating in cancer chemotherapy at University Medical Center (UMC) in Ho Chi Minh City. The study also had the following specific objectives: (a) determining the demographic and clinical characteristics of CRC patients and (b) determining health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and related factors affecting HRQoL of CRC patients receiving cancer chemotherapy. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Sixty CRC patients being treated at the UMC participated in this study. The research used the European Organization for …

The Effect Of Music On Anxiety Of The Endoscopic Client In A Private Hospital In Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, Hanh Thi Hong Nguyen

Master's Theses

Gastrointestinal tract cancer is one of the fifth most common cancers in Vietnam and has a high mortality rate in Vietnamese people based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) global cancer statistics. One-third of adults aged 50 or older, the age group at greatest risk of developing colorectal cancer, have not been screened because endoscopy is considered a stressful procedure. The endoscopic patient sometimes refuses to have the procedure. Therefore, using music to ease the anxiety of endoscopic clients has been examined in various studies but the results have been inconclusive. The aim of this study was …

The Role Of Gibberellic Acid In Aphid-Plant-Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungus Interactions, Drew Olson

Master's Theses

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form beneficial associations with the roots of most terrestrial plants, which is mostly characterized by increased plant nutrient acquisition (phosphate and nitrogen) by the fungi in exchange for carbon and lipids from the plants. These associations can also enhance plant coping mechanisms to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, insect herbivores, such as aphids, can benefit from AM fungi-plant symbioses by altering plant defenses that are driven mainly by the phytohormones jasmonic acid (JA) and salicylic acid (SA). Nevertheless, other phytohormones can modulate plant defenses by altering the balance of the JA and SA signaling pathways, such …

The Effects Of Optimism On Anti-Natalism, Faith L. Brown

Master's Theses

People sometimes hold opinions on others’ choices, particularly their reproductive decisions, as these choices are important decisions that impact the lives of multiple people. People can believe that everyone should have children (pro-natalism) or that everyone should refrain from having children (anti-natalism) or they can hold no position on the reproduction of others. The main justification for anti-natalism is that life contains more suffering than pleasure and that it would be better if new people were not born to experience this suffering. This is why some theorists argue that people reject anti-natalism irrespective of how bad …

Tonal Expectations Defining Narrative Archetypes, Seth Weesner

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the contributions of tonal analysis to narrative readings of three nineteenth-century pieces. The method used originates from the work of two theorists, Byron Almén and Fred Lerdahl. Almén’s 2008 book, A Theory of Musical Narrative, outlines narrative archetypes. Lerdahl’s 2004 book, Tonal Pitch Space, provides a sophisticated approach to tonal analysis. These methods are combined to analyze striking modulations in Robert Schumann’s “Dein Angesicht” Op. 127, no. 2, tonal ambiguity in Johannes Brahms’s “Der Kranz” Op. 84, no. 2, and the lack of tonal closure in Gabriel Fauré’s “Hymne” Op. 7, no. 2. These striking …

“Making The World A Better Place To Live In”: Hattiesburg Women’S Literary Organizations And The Formation Of A Progressive Southern City, 1884-1945, Daniella Kawa

Master's Theses

This study examines the activity and impact of white women’s literary clubs in Hattiesburg, Mississippi between 1884 and the end of World War II in 1945. This project examines to what extent women adhered to or broke away from societal norms of the time by involving themselves in intellectually stimulating groups with other women, especially in response to rapidly changing standards of femininity and womanhood during the Progressive era. Women’s literary clubs reveal patterns of women moving out of the home and into a public role, in addition to signifying the new ways in which women fit themselves into a …

Homotopy Analysis Method For Nonlinear Ordinary Eigenvalue Problems, Subagya Perera

Master's Theses

In this thesis, we solve nonlinear differential equations by the homotopy analysis method (HAM), which is a semi-analytic method first introduced by Shijun Liao in 1992. The modified HAM can be viewed as a more generalized method that encloses many perturbation and non-perturbation methods. It is different from perturbation or other analytical methods in that it allows considerable freedomformanyvariables. Using the modified HAM, especially zero-order and higher-order deformation equations, we solve a nonlinear initial value problem and a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. We adjust the convergence region of a solution by modifying auxiliary parameter values. The results converge in very few …

Cruise Ship Ports And Human Capital Development: The Case Of Mexico, Jorge Herrera

Master's Theses

The cruise ship industry, the fastest-growing segment in the leisure travel market, has contributed significantly to the economic transformation of developing countries, particularly in the Caribbean Basin. This paper applies a difference-in-differences methodology to examine the causal impact of the introduction of cruise ship ports on human capital development in Mexico, as reflected by educational attainment. Using variations in school enrollment, segregated by gender and age across states and municipalities, I find that the economic consequences derived from this form of tourism do not translate into incremental, permanent improvements in all quality of life indicators considered, most saliently in schooling. …

Evaluating Methods To Reduce Humpback Whale (Megaptera Novaeamgliae) Ship Strike Mortality In Nearshore Feeding Habitats Within The San Francisco Bay, Alisa Keenan

Master's Theses

Across our world’s oceans, whales are perpetually stuck and killed by large ships. Sea-based commercial trade is increasing on a global scale; therefore, more large ships are circumnavigating through biologically important whale habitats. This is of grave concern to marine resource managers, especially in the United States where major shipping corridors overlap critical whale habitat. It is feared that in these areas with high whale density, ship strikes are reducing populations of whales to levels below what is sustainable for threatened and endangered species, thereby hindering the recovery of depleted whale populations. Humpback whales, a species that is federally-listed as …

A Time Integration Method Of Approximate Particular Solutions For Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations, Cyril Ocloo

Master's Theses

We consider a time-dependent method which is coupled with the method of approximate particular solutions (MAPS) of Delta-shaped basis functions and the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) to solve nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Firstly, we convert a nonlinear problem into a sequence of time-dependent non-homogeneous boundary value problems through a fictitious time integration method. The superposition principle is applied to split the numerical solution at each time step into an approximate particular solution and a homogeneous solution. Delta-shaped basis functions are used to provide an approximation of the source function at each time step. The purpose of this is to …

Historical And Contemporary Variables Affecting The Range And Distribution Of Aedes Aegypti, The Yellow Fever Mosquito, In The United States, Nicole Mackey

Master's Theses

Aedes aegypti, the primary mosquito vector of the yellow fever virus, threatens global health by passing on this virus, as well as chikungunya, dengue, and Zika viruses. Through its natural tendency to live in highly urban areas and bite human hosts; understanding the factors that affect the historical and current range of the pest is invaluable (Gubler, 1998). Although these viruses are not normally found in the United States, lack of vaccinations and wide-spread presence of the mosquito could lead to these diseases being reintroduced with potentially devastating effects (Monath, 2001). To determine a partial historical range of A. aegypti …

Identification Of Saliva Using Dna Methylation Analysis For Forensic Use, Elizabeth Staples

Master's Theses

The identification of biological fluids is a precursor to determine if further human identification is required in a forensic setting. There are four forensically-relevant biological fluids: blood, semen, vaginal epithelial tissue, and saliva. While serological testing can identify these tissue types to some degree of accuracy, there has recently been momentum in research to use DNA methylation for tissue identification.

In the current study, five potential tissue-specific methylation markers were studied in order to identify locations in the genome that would differentiate saliva from other tissue types. Genomic DNA was extracted from each sample, followed by bisulfite modification, polymerase chain …

The Unknown War: Army Of The Republic Of Vietnam Combat Operations 1962-1963, Justin Major

Master's Theses

The American historiography of the Vietnam War has tended to focus on the actions of the United States Armed Forces, the People’s Army of Vietnam, and the Viet Cong, while the history of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) has remained largely untold. ARVN, when mentioned, is usually portrayed as incompetent, ineffective, and even cowardly. Recently, historians like Andrew Wiest and Mark Moyar have challenged this view of ARVN that was originally advanced by journalists Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam. Moyar even suggested that ARVN was winning the war until the assassination of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh …

A Change In Fish Assemblages In The Pascagoula River, Ms, Sara Barrett

Master's Theses

The Pascagoula River in southeastern Mississippi is the largest remaining un-impounded river system in the contiguous United States and have seen a change in fish assemblages over time. Examination of long-term fish assemblage data show that the mainstem Pascagoula River and its two major tributaries (mainstem Leaf and Chickasawhay Rivers) have been dominated by five abundant taxa that comprise 83% of individuals sampled, with Cyprinella venusta in the highest abundance. Beginning in about 2005-2006, a change in the mainstem Pascagoula River (but not mainstem Leaf and Chickasawhay rivers) was seen to an alternate assemblage where five different taxa dominate (89% …

Mosquito Communities And Insect-Specific Viruses In A Heterogenous, Urban Landscape In Puerto Rico, Nicole Scavo

Master's Theses

The goal of my thesis was to investigate the relationships between mosquito diversity, Aedes aegptyi populations, and socioeconomic factors (SEF) in an urban setting and to characterize the virome of Ae. aegypti in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mosquitoes were collected in three periods during late 2018 and early 2019 and were identified to the species level. Socioeconomic factors were measured using foot surveys and U.S. Census data. Some Ae. aegypti females were processed for sequencing and sent to Quick Biology for RNA sequencing to identify viruses. Results showed a link between SEF and Ae. aegypti abundance as well as between …

Helmand: The U.S. Marines And Counterinsurgency In Afghanistan, 2010-2012, Taylor L. Lewis

Master's Theses

In the years following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, American troops contended with insurgent forces resistant to conventional tactics. General David Petraeus, along with other military experts, addressed the need for new strategies with the publication of Warfighting Publication 3-33.5 (3-33.5) in 2006. The manual laid out methods by which American troops should quell insurgent threats in Iraq and Afghanistan. This thesis is concerned with how the Marine Corps enacted the policies of 3-33.5 in Helmand Province between 2010 and 2012.

The tenants of this new manual were tested in the years following President Barak Obama’s commitment of …

“You Must Live, And Show To The World What They Have Been Doing Here”: The Survival Of The “Rabbits” Of Ravensbrück, Regina Coffey

Master's Theses

The Polish women who would later come to be known as the kroliki or “rabbits” arrived at Ravensbrück with a death sentence. As a result of their work for underground organizations back in Poland, the camp administration planned to execute them within a few years. Because the women were already intended to die, they were chosen as the subjects of experimental operations in which muscles and bones in their legs were mutilated and many of them were injected with various diseases and bacteria. Most of the rabbits survived the experiments, though many were permanently crippled, and several suffered from additional …

A Comparison Of Power Variables For Two Loading Methods In Weighted Vertical Jumps 2020, Jonathan Tanguay

Master's Theses

Training exercises to develop muscular strength and power, such as the weighted jump squat, commonly utilize barbells and dumbbells to increase resistance. Strength coaches often measure improvements in peak force, peak power, and rate of force development to determine effectiveness of a training program. The purpose of this study was to determine if equipment selection (barbells vs. dumbbells) affects peak force, peak power, and/or rate of force development in weighted jump squats. Thirteen physically active, college-aged males (age: 21.6 ± 2.0 years, height: 182.8 ± 9.7 cm, body mass: 87.2 ± 9.0 kg, lean mass: 72.3 ± 8.1 kg) performed …

Custodians Of Memory: A History Of American Archival Science With Suggestions For Future Digital Preservation Efforts, Courtney Thompson

Master's Theses

The archive and the historian are symbiotically dependent on one another. The archive relies on the historian to make use of the records it houses, and the historian looks to the archive to reconstruct history. But can a historian responsibly reconstruct history when the archive is fraught with relativity and bias? This thesis serves two purposes; one, pulling from seminal archival science and collections management texts, it chronicles the monumental, intellectual changes to American archival sciences, theories, and institutions, and two, it shows how these early conversations pertaining to archival theories are both not far removed from digital preservation efforts …

Using Crispr-Cas9 As A Restriction Enzyme, Zack Crawley

Master's Theses

Restriction digests are a commonly utilized process for cleaving DNA at specific, but relatively common sites. Restriction enzymes have widespread use in DNA manipulation. CRISPR/Cas9 is a recently identified endonuclease which utilizes a customizable guide sequence to recognize and cut specific ~20 bp sites located in a DNA sequence. This preliminary research aimed to exploit the potential benefit of DNA restriction using the CRISPR/Cas9 procedure through alterations of different components involved in that system. We sought to refine existing CRISPR/Cas9 protocols and make a budget friendly, user-selectable CRISPR/Cas9 restriction digest protocol. The motivation for this research was to simplify and …