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The Poet's Corpus: Memory And Monumentality In Wilfred Owen's "The Show", Charles Hunter Joplin

Master's Theses

Wilfred Owen is widely recognized to be the greatest English “trench poet” of the First World War. His posthumously published war poems sculpt a nightmarish vision of trench warfare, one which enables Western audiences to consider the suffering of the English soldiers and the brutality of modern warfare nearly a century after the armistice. However, critical readings of Owen’s canonized corpus, including “The Show” (1917, 1918), only focus on their hellish imagery. I will add to these readings by demonstrating that “The Show” is primarily concerned with the limitations of lyric poetry, the monumentality of poetic composition, and the difficulties …

Shaken, Not Stirred: Espionage, Fantasy, And British Masculinity During The Cold War, Anna Rikki Nelson

Master's Theses

This project seeks to define and explore the development of Cold War British masculinity and national identity in response to decolonization. Following World War II, Great Britain experienced a time of political and cultural rebuilding. This project argues that following World War II, Britain had to renegotiate gender and national identity within the context of decolonization, the rise of the welfare state, and Britain’s diminished role in global politics, and the tensions within gender and national identity were expressed in Britain’s interest in espionage narratives both real and fictionalized. British spy novels by Ian Fleming, Desmond Cory, and John Le …

Material Selection And Testing For A Radiation Therapy Catheter, Philip James Wadlow

Master's Theses

Three different polymers (a high-density polymer and two other polymers) were tested for use as an x-ray catheter in a radiation therapy application. This report describes the testing of these three materials to determine which material is the best option for a long use catheter. Tests included tensile, simulated clinical life, and other tests. Some testing was performed using nitrogen and an industrial coolant. Testing revealed significant non-circularities for some catheters. With increasing pressure, the circularity of these catheters increased. The tensile tests were performed on samples with varying doses of radiation. Tensile testing showed significant decreases in ultimate tensile …

Analysis Of Electromagnetic Launcher Design And Modeling, Garrett Ross Germany

Master's Theses

This thesis derives working expressions from electromagnetic physical laws to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of railguns. The expressions are refined for ease of use and then compared to electromagnetic simulators that solve complex equations that arise from different rail geometry. Further simplifications lead to an expression for the final velocity of the projectile and showcase the importance of the system resistance to projectile flux gain ratio. A Simulink simulation then incorporates the resulting non-linear differential equations and approximates the projectile velocity over time based on physical dimensions and material properties. Some equations derived can be found in …

Mimica: A General Framework For Self-Learning Companion Ai Behavior, Travis Angevine

Master's Theses

Companion or support characters controlled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been a feature of video games for decades. Many Role Playing Games (RPGs) offer a cast of support characters in the player’s party that are AI-controlled to various degrees. Many First Person Shooter (FPS) games include semi-autonomous or fully autonomous AI-controlled companions. Real Time Strategy (RTS) games have traditionally featured large numbers of semi-autonomous characters that collectively help accomplish various tasks (build, attack, etc.) for the player. While RPGs tend to focus on a single or a small number of well-developed character companions to accompany a player controlled main character, …

The Effect Of Weighted Body Armor On Close Combat Reaction Time And Core Muscle Activation 2016, Christopher Banta

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to measure the choice reaction time and myoelectric activity of the right and left rectus abdominus, and right and left external obliques required to initiate movement in response to a visual stimulus that signaled performance of four different closecombat movements (left or right cross and left or right dodge). Reaction time and myoelectric activity were then compared with performing the movements in response to the visual stimulus while wearing a weighted vest that simulated wearing tactical body armor. Myoelectric activity was measured as the average root mean square (RMS) of the surface electromyography (sEMG) …

Ism S-Band Cubesat Radio Designed For The Polysat System Board, Craig Lee Francis

Master's Theses

Cal Poly’s PolySat CubeSat satellites have begun to conduct more complex and scientifically significant experiments. The large data products generated by these missions demonstrate the necessity for higher data rate communication than currently provided by the PolySat UHF radio. This thesis leverages the proliferation of consumer wireless monolithic transceivers to develop a 250kbps to 2000kbps, 2W CubeSat radio operating within the 2.45GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) radio band.

Estimating a link budget for a realistic CubeSat leads to the conclusion that this system will require a large deployable CubeSat antenna, large earth station satellite dish, and a fine-pointing attitude …

Crying Wolf: An Analysis Of The Use Of Sensational Content Within The Media And The Desensitizing Effects It Has On Audiences, Lindsey Lowe

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the development and use of sensational media content to analyze this growing phenomenon and the effects that it has had on audiences. This research focuses primarily on specific examples of sensational media content including: The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, The Great Train Robbery, the “War of the Worlds” broadcast, the Hindenburg disaster, footage of the Vietnam War, Apollo 11 and the first moon landing, and The Day After. These examples were chosen to chronicle the development and use of sensationalism and to illustrate that media audiences of today are desensitized to sensational content because …

The German Army At A Crossroads Of Modernization, Sarah E. Liebig

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the German civil-military relationship and the challenges the country is facing amidst modernizing reforms to the German armed forces. Over the last quarter of a century, new international security threats have manifested and continue to transform requiring Germany to adapt its military and defense policies in order to effectively protect itself and serve as a capable ally to other member states of international organizations such as NATO and the EU. The adaptations and reforms required of Germany have led to concern that the cornerstone civil-military relationship concepts are at risk. In this thesis I identify the major …

Bioarchaeological Analysis Of Oak View Landing (40dr1): An Archaic Population In The Kentucky Lake Reservior, Katy D. Grant-Mclemore

Master's Theses

The biocultural examination of the Archaic population recovered at Oak View Landing (40DR1) investigates the lifeways and adaptations of prehistoric people as they reflect sociopolitical and subsistence strategies.

A comprehensive bioarchaeological analysis was conducted on the adult individuals (18 males, 16 females, 16 of indeterminate sex) excavated from a multiple occupation site located along the Tennessee River in Decatur County, Tennessee. Skeletal indicators used to understand biocultural phenomena were assessed macroscopically on cranial and postcranial elements. Furthermore, mortuary data, for adults and subadults, were used to determine any patterns of preferential treatment at death.

Results from this study indicate that …

Staging Sex Or Fighting Foreignness? Marlowe's Edward Ii As Xenophobic Drama, James D. Baker

Master's Theses

Christopher Marlowe’s drama Edward II has long been known for its representation of a close male, arguably homosexual, friendship between King Edward II and his favorite, the French Piers Gaveston, as well as their union’s negative effects on the court. Indeed much criticism exists on the common belief that the characters’ relationship is problematic in early modern England both because the two characters are male and because there is an obvious class divide. However, critics have seemed to overlook Gaveston’s being French, even in light of the massive immigration to England during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. This …

Burial Chronological Sequencing Of The Colonial Maya Cemetery At Tipu, Belize Using Fluoride Ion Analysis, Nicole Musselwhite

Master's Theses

This thesis ascertains the sequence of burials using fluoride ion electrode analysis at the colonial cemetery at Tipu, Belize in order to explore demographic and other cultural effects associated with European contact. The cemetery at Tipu in west central Belize, dating from within the first century of Spanish contact, has provided one of the largest and best preserved Maya skeletal series, with over 500 burials recovered. While this series has undergone vast amounts of analysis, there has yet been an analysis conducted to view how patterns changed over time. This is of interest given the rapid culture change associated with …

Paleopathology At The Shady Grove Site (22qu525): A Study Of Health In The Upper Yazoo Basin During The Middle Mississippian Period, Christopher Brady Davis

Master's Theses

The Mississippian Period (AD 1000-1539) is characterized by increasingly sedentary populations, mound building, ranked societies, and intensified agriculture. As agriculture spread throughout the Eastern Woodlands, it led to widespread health consequences, including poor nutrition and increased levels of infection. Also, environmental shifts during the Mississippian Period (AD 1000-1539) caused drier conditions, potentially leading to crop failures further exacerbating nutritional problems.

This thesis focuses on the health of the Shady Grove site in the Upper Yazoo Basin, a Middle to Late Mississippian medium sized mound center where an ossuary containing up to 100 individuals was excavated in 2010. Focusing only on …

Holy Warriors And Bellicose Bishops: The Church And Warfare In Early Medieval Germany, Nicholas Edward Friend

Master's Theses

The Frankish kingdoms of the early Middle Ages were the inheritors of both Germanic warrior culture and the Christian institutions of the late Roman Empire. Under Charlemagne, the Franks conquered most of Western Europe by the early ninth century and established a new empire of their own. To do so, they had to reconcile the Christian doctrine of peace with the necessity of killing the enemy during war. This was especially challenging for the highest ranks of the clergy. Though forbidden by canon law to commit violence, bishops and abbots were responsible for defending the property and people in their …

Asylia And Peer Polity Interaction In The Hellenistic Period, Kathleen Ann Kirsch

Master's Theses

This thesis proposes that the Peer Polity Interaction Theory can explain the spread of the civic title of territorial asylia (inviolability) in the Hellenistic period. The Greeks had always considered sacred space to be inviolable; thus there was no apparent need to acquire a separate title of inviolability. During the Hellenistic period, however, ambassadors canvassed the Greek world for recognition of asylia, and acceptances were inscribed in stone and placed in highly visible places. It was clearly a particularly sought after title.

By surveying the primary epigraphic and numismatic sources and examining asylia in the context of the Peer Polity …

Reviving Mesopotamia: Genocide And The Preservation Of Cultural Heritage In The Nationalist Music Of William Daniel (1903-1988), Rashel Pakbaz

Master's Theses

Once an illiterate Christian community suppressed by its Muslim neighbors, the Mesopotamian population in Persia benefitted from the American missionaries establishing schools and hospitals that helped their culture and language flourish in the late 1800s. Their survival as a people and a culture was threatened, however, when the Muslim Ottoman Empire began the Christian Genocide in Eastern Anatolia during World War I. As a survivor of these horrific events, composer William Daniel (1903-1988) felt the need to preserve and promote Mesopotamian culture through music, and as a Western trained musician, he successfully developed a nationalist style of music based on …

Fixing The Failed: An Investigation Of Terrorist Organizations And State Building Capabilities, Joshua Adam Freeman

Master's Theses

This study examines the role of terrorist organizations in failed states. In particular, their ability to perform positive state-building activities that result in stability is investigated. Both terrorism and state failure present unique and serious threats to international security. However, there is very little literature concerning the positive effect terrorist organizations can have in failed states. Presented is not only an investigation of the linkages between state failure and terrorism, but also a new classification of terrorist organizations based upon their ability to state-build in failed states. These organizations are classified by their ability to provide goods and services within …

Design Methods For Remotely Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, William Beaman Howe

Master's Theses

A method for sizing remotely powered unmanned aerial vehicles is presented to augment the conventional design process. This method allows for unconventionally powered aircraft to become options in trade studies during the initial design phase. A design matrix is created that shows where, and if, a remotely powered vehicle fits within the design space. For given range and power requirements, the design matrix uses historical data to determine whether an internal combustion or electrical system would be most appropriate. Trends in the historical data show that the break in the design space between the two systems is around 30 miles …

Machiavelli And Ariosto: Language, Power, And The War Of Words, Rosanne H. Pelletier

Master's Theses

Machiavelli and Ariosto, the two contemporary giants and ideological opposites of the Italian Renaissance, diverge on the realm of power’s operation. For Machiavelli, power operates within society; here, one wields power over, or else cedes it to, others. By contrast, for Ariosto the locus of power is one’s own mind, where mighty forces swirl and sometimes overtake the individual from within. Whereas in Machiavelli’s view, power is asserted over others, the Ariostan view posits dizzying internal passions over which the individual is often powerless.

Against such a background, I anatomize two sets of linguistic details, and show that they in …

Ellen G. White's Counsel To Leaders In Conflict, Michael Thomas White

Master's Theses

How should we relate to people in the church who adamantly disagree with us personally or with a commonly accepted position? How do we support what is admirable about controversial leaders while still disagreeing with the way they express some of their views? Deeper than just how we argue with people we disagree with, how do we deal with leaders who are simply disagreeable? Ellen G. White’s own life and works show several examples of how she responded to church leaders in conflict, showcasing principles that we can use today to argue without being argumentative.

My goal for this paper …

Health Care In The Us Department Of Veterans Affairs: Critical Issues And Strategic Progress, Kristin Nicole Sandoval

Master's Theses

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is one of the largest executive departments in the nation, providing essential financial and medical assistance to veterans and their families. As the VA continues to evolve and grow it is imperative to understand the department’s current capability constraints and how they arose in order to propose effective methods for addressing current issues and overcoming future policy pitfalls. The most critical issues presently facing the VA concern appalling increases in wait-times and backlogs for services, which have emerged since 9/11 and are primarily the result of growing numbers of disabled veterans from …

Tales Of Archaeological Places: Visualizing Mayan Pre-Colonial Settlement Patterns, Angela Ivanov

Master's Theses

In order to visualize ancient Mayan settlement patterns and demography through time, data derived from 26 published archaeological sites were collected and plotted onto three discrete map media. These data were subdivided into six time periods ranging from Pre-Classic to Post-Classic, and were simulated for each map medium. Specific attention was given during the selection of geographical locations, natural landscape features, map annotation, layers and coordinates. Tabulated information were site names, coordinates, site founding dates, site decline/abandonment dates, and estimated population. Combined with existing country base map layers downloaded from online geographical sources and time series animation (an animated map), …

The Bronze Artifacts Of Tall Jalul, Jordan, Christine T. Chitwood

Master's Theses

Background

It is quite common at excavation sites throughout the Near East to uncover the remains of metallic artifacts, though the practice of investigating these objects has fluctuated over the past 50 years of archaeometallurgical studies. Early scholars of archaeometallurgy, such as R.F. Tylecote, employed the use of elemental analysis, studying early metallurgical technologies necessary to create metallic implements around Europe and the Near East and paying close attention to the resources and energy exerted to manufacture each instrument. Other researchers compiled typological comparisons, building cultural identities off of stylistic features from the material culture. Since then, technological and elemental …

Refugee Resettlement And Family Reunification In Canada, Yohannes Kenningd Woonssi Sawassi Ys Sawassi

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the plight of Sub-Saharan Africans who are now Canadians and are trying to settle in a new country in order to reunite with their family members. However, rather than assisting with process of resettlement, current Canadian policy has the opposite effect. It appears to create a route by which people can sponsor their loved ones, but in reality the nature of the process is arduous and filled with time delays, regulatory and processing issues and other kinds of difficulties. Consequently, what therefore appears as a hopeful situation ends up creating despair. This situation is particularly hard for …

One Big Puzzle, Two Thousand Tiny Pieces: An Analysis Of The Juvenile Remains From The Shady Grove Ossuary, Jaimie Arlene Ide

Master's Theses

This thesis is an inventory and analysis of the juvenile remains excavated in 2010 from a Middle Mississippian ossuary at the Shady Grove site (22QU525), located in the Mississippi Delta. This project presents a clear challenge given the commingled and incomplete nature of the sample, as well as the preservation biases associated with subadult material, but this research offers valuable insight into the demographic pattern of the larger population at the site, as well as the mortuary practices which created the ossuary at Shady Grove. A “bone-by-bone” inventory revealed the presence of 43 juvenile individuals between the ages of 0 …

Hadrian's Wall: A Study In Function, Mylinh Van Pham

Master's Theses

Earlier studies on Hadrian's Wall have focused on its defensive function to protect the Roman Empire by foreign invasions, but the determination is Hadrian's Wall most likely did not have one single purpose, but rather multiple purposes. This makes the Wall more complex and interesting than a simple structure to keep out foreign intruders. Collective research on other frontier walls' functions and characteristics around the empire during the reign of Hadrian are used to compare and determine the possible function or functions of the Wall. The Wall not only served political purposes, but also had economic and social uses as …

Jackson's Flying Dutchmen: The Significance Of The Royal Netherlands Military Flying School, Samuel Howard Ward

Master's Theses

From May 1942 thru February 1944, the United States allowed the Netherlands to train its aviators at Jackson Army Air Base. Known as the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School, the training the Dutch conducted helped rebuild the Royal Netherland Air Force and the air component of the Royal Netherland Navy. The Dutch military came to Jackson because they lost their territory to foreign invaders. Furthermore, the surviving members of the Dutch military felt compelled to endure and carry on the fight. The United States military selected Jackson Army Air Base because of its geographic location, the existing infrastructure at the …

Aiding And Abetting: The Illegality Of Morocco's Nationalist Expansion Into Western Sahara And Their Support From The United States, Rachid H. Yousfi

Master's Theses

This paper will address the illegality of Morocco’s nationalist annexation of Western Sahara and how the United States plays the accommodating role through the selling of arms, economic aid, and diplomatic support. Considered as Africa’s last colony, the Saharawi people have not experienced the basic human right to self-determination and the right for independence. These rights are continued to be withheld for the sake of Moroccan nationalism and their “rightful and ethnic” claims to the territory, disregarding the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s advisory opinion ruling in favor of Saharawi self-determination. It explores the chronology of the Saharawi population from …

The Role Of Strength And Power In High Intensity Military Relevant Tasks, Jesse Maladouangdock

Master's Theses

INTRODUCTION: Previous research has elucidated the physiological determinants of heavy load carriage while performing medium to long distance road marching, yet research examining the physiological underpinnings of high intensity battlefield tasks is limited. This study aimed to examine the role of strength and power during high intensity combat tasks under heavy load carriage.

METHODS: 18 recreationally trained men (mean ± SD: age: 21 ± 2 years; height: 172 ± 6 cm; weight: 80 ± 13 kg) participated in this study and performed an anaerobic combat course under two randomized experimental conditions; unloaded and loaded. Subjects performed three trials under each …

U.S. Relationships With Iran, Israel, And Pakistan: A Realist Explanation, Aaron Daniel Coates

Master's Theses

The purpose of this work is to assess U.S. relations with Iran, Israel, and Pakistan throughout the Cold War into the contemporary age of Islamic extremism. It demonstrates how the international relations theory of realism is most applicable to these relations when compared to the four competing theories of neorealism, liberalism, neoliberal institutionalism, and constructivism. Each case study is examined and evaluated in full detail. Particular emphasis is allotted to variables such as foreign aid, interventionism, sanctions, geography, and political and cultural similarities. The thesis concludes by offering a brief explanation as to the lessons that should be learned from …