Digital Commons Network^™

Archaeobotanical Analyses Of The Winterville Mounds Site (22ws500) And Other Southeastern Ceremonial Complexes, Dana Hauffe

Master's Theses

The prehistoric Southeast region of the United States has had very limited archaeobotanical research focused on botanicals’ medicinal or ritualistic characteristics. An analysis of reported botanical remains recovered from Winterville Mounds (22WS500) and seventy- two other Late Woodland and Mississippian sites, from seven states, was conducted to identify their potential medicinal and ritual use of seventy-five botanicals based on reported ethnobotanical evidence. By classifying botanicals into four classes, modeled after the dissertation of Dr. Michele Williams in 2000, taxon frequency and feature ubiquity is configured and utilized to identify the possible ceremonial and medicinal use plants. At Winterville Mounds Site …

Development And Employment Of Environmental Dna Methods For The Detection Of Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus Leucas) In A Freshwater And Estuarine Interface In The Mobile-Tensaw Delta And Mobile Bay, Alabama, Katherine Schweiss

Master's Theses

Species conservation and management is influenced by the quality of monitoring methods employed, especially when targeting elusive, but ecologically significant species, like elasmobranchs. Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) are highly mobile predators that rely on estuaries and freshwater rivers for maturation, resources, and refuge; their ability to withstand changing environmental conditions may mean they are linking ecosystems through their habitat usage and movements. Rather than setting nets or attaching acoustic monitoring devices, which can be expensive, time-consuming, and invasive, the analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) for tracing species presence was used to target C. leucasDNA. The present research …

Effects Of Water Table Depth And Edaphic Characteristics On Plant Diversity In A Southern Mississippi Pitcher Plant Bog, Patrick Kirby

Master's Theses

This study examined the effects that water table depth and soil characteristics have on plant species richness and species composition within pitcher plant bogs across seasons. Eight piezometers were installed at random distances to monitor long-term water table depth and pressure fluctuations along a ~710-meter line transect traversing upland and bog habitats. Vegetation sampling quadrats (n=128) were set up near each piezometer. Cover data and water table depths were collected in spring and late summer. Soil samples collected from each treatment group were used to obtain soil texture and nutrient data. The summer collection period yielded a total gdiversity of …

Estimating Body Mass Through Bone Mineral Density Studies Using Dexa (Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry), Kaitlin Harstine

Master's Theses

Identification of a decedent is one of the primary goals of forensic anthropologists. In order to do this, one must build a biological profile based on the remains that are provided. Sex, age, ancestry, and stature are four of the most common, however a fifth addition piece of information that could be beneficial is body mass. The goal of this research is to explore the relationship between bone mineral density (BMD) and body mass, using data collected from dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans of 107 collegiate football athletes. Athletes are a good fit for this study because they have achieved …

The Effect Of Historic Shipwrecks On Sediment Microbiomes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Melissa Brock

Master's Theses

Microorganisms are ubiquitously distributed across all aquatic habitats, but it is the environmental conditions of a habitat that determine which microorganisms can thrive in terms of abundance or metabolic activity. Habitats that experience consistent physical and chemical environmental conditions repeatedly favor specific taxonomic groups which may result in a microbial assemblage that is commonly associated with that habitat (i.e., a core microbiome). Core microbiomes have been identified for a variety of natural marine habitats including methane seeps, wood falls, octocoral, and deep-sea sediments. However, it was unknown if the presence of man-made structures on the seafloor, including historic shipwrecks, also …

Elevated Adhd Symptoms As A Predictor Of Rule Violations Among Male Juvenile Offenders, Kathleen Lolley Ramsey

Master's Theses

Youth with ADHD are disproportionately at-risk for engaging in criminality and aggression relative to the general population, and this may be a function of underlying executive function deficits associated with self-regulation. More specifically, youth with ADHD may be susceptible to difficulties with behavioral regulation (impulsivity) and emotional regulation (e.g., managing feelings of anger). The current study sought to expand on previous research to examine the relationship between ADHD symptoms and aggression and the potential moderating effects of anger control among institutionalized youth. Archival data comprising a sample (N=119) of male adolescents who were admitted to a maximum-security residential facility were …

The Quiet Cafeteria Game, Mary Ware

Master's Theses

Due to the prevalence of disruptive behavior in schools, educators are required to allocate time and resources to manage student behavior problems (Murphy, Theodore, Aloiso, Alric-Edwards, & Hughes, 2007). Disruptive behaviors take place in the classroom and other non-classroom settings, which can negatively impact the academic success of students. Specifically, noisemaking is a disruptive behavior that educators report as being one of the most concerning disruptive behaviors, thus, increasing the need for effective interventions to address disruptive behavior in non-classroom settings (Sun & Shek, 2012). The current study evaluates the effects of a decibel-level based interdependent group contingency, the Quiet …

Involuntary Signal-Based Grounding Of Civilian Unmanned Aerial Systems (Uas) In Civilian Airspace, Keith Conley

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the involuntary signal-based grounding of civilian unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in unauthorized air spaces. The technique proposed here will forcibly land unauthorized UAS in a given area in such a way that the UAS will not be harmed, and the pilot cannot stop the landing. The technique will not involuntarily ground authorized drones which will be determined prior to the landing. Unauthorized airspaces include military bases, university campuses, areas affected by a natural disaster, and stadiums for public events. This thesis proposes an early prototype of a hardware-based signal based involuntary grounding technique to handle the problem …

Expanding The Fear Of Loss Of Vigilance Theory: Using Intolerance Of Uncertainty, Responsibility For Harm, And Fear Of Sleep To Predict Nocturnal Panic Attacks, Nicole S. Smith

Master's Theses

Nocturnal panic involves experiencing panic attacks out of a sleeping state without obvious causes such as nightmares or loud noises. Roughly half of patients with panic disorder will experience nocturnal panic in addition to panic attacks while awake, or daytime panic. Like daytime panic, nocturnal panic also occurs in other disorders such as PTSD. The Fear of Loss of Vigilance theory is currently the only model available to explain nocturnal panic. It suggests that nocturnal panickers fear states in which they cannot easily react to or protect themselves from danger. Prior research using a self-report measure to differentiate nocturnal and …

Is The Written Component Of Tootling Effective? A Comparison Of The Group Contingency To A Comparison Writing Procedure, James Derieux

Master's Theses

Previous tootling literature has demonstrated positive effects of the intervention when implemented in settings from elementary school (e.g., Skinner, Cashwell, & Skinner, 2000) to high school (e.g., Lum et al., 2019). Several studies have shown meaningful effects for the tootling intervention on increasing class-wide academically engaged behavior (AEB) and decreasing disruptive behaviors (DB) (e.g., Cihak et al., 2009). However, no studies in the current literature have examined the effects of the individual components of the tootling intervention on class-wide behaviors. The current study sought to examine the effects of the written component of the tootling intervention on class-wide levels of …

Multi-Point Flux Approximations Via The O-Method, Christen Leggett

Master's Theses

When an oil refining company is drilling for oil, much of the oil gets left behind after the first drilling. Enhanced oil recovery techniques can be used to recover more of that oil, but these methods are quite expensive. When a company is deciding if it is worth their time and money to use enhanced oil recovery methods, simulations can be used to model oil flow, showing the behavior and location of the oil. While methods do exist to model this flow, these methods are often very slow and inaccurate due to a large domain and wide variance in coefficients. …

The Thiol Specific Antioxidant (Tsa1) Gene Is Required For Survival In Macrophages And Oxidative Stress Resistance In Histoplasma Capsulatum, Lauren Kennedy

Master's Theses

Histoplasma capsulatum(Hc) is a pathogenic fungus that causes one of the most common invasive fungal respiratory diseases, Histoplasmosis. Histoplasmaundergoes a dimorphic shift from mold to yeast which is crucial to pathogenesis of the organism.

The thiol specific antioxidant gene, Tsa1,is strongly upregulated in the yeast (pathogenic) morphotype. This data led to the hypothesis that this gene plays a role in protecting Hcfrom host mediated oxidative attack. To characterize Tsa1 function, a knockdown strain (tsa1-RNAi) was created by RNAi gene silencing. Expression of Tsa1in the tsa1-RNAistrain was reduced to 10% that …

The Variability Of High-Frequency Motions And Their Interactions With The Mesoscale On The Mississippi Shelf, Jordan Earls

Master's Theses

In this study, we examine the spatial and temporal variability of high-frequency and low-frequency motions across the Mississippi Shelf and how the high-frequency motions are modulated by low-frequency mesoscale motions. For this purpose, we use Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements collected at nearshore (23 m), mid-shelf (60 m), and shelf break (88 m) stations. High-frequency motions are defined as motions with periods less than 36 hours, whereas mesoscale motions have larger periods. The collected datasets are analyzed through bandpass filtering, least square harmonic analysis, spectral analysis, and empirical orthogonal functions (EOF). We find that along-shelf barotropic mesoscale motions contain …

Terrorism And Organized Crime: An Analytical Study From An International Law Perspective, Leila Mejdoubi

Master's Theses

With the spread of terrorism and its growing risks since the start of the 21^st century, a wide range of reports and studies have emerged. This funding comes from a special relationship between terrorist organizations, organized crime syndicates, and their cooperation with each other, which has enabled terrorist organizations in particular to carry out recruitment efforts and operations alike. It has also fueled an international black market for smuggling and trade in drugs and arms. Under what conditions do violent terrorist groups driven by extreme Islamist ideology collaborate with organized criminal enterprises to generate the requisite resources to pursue …

The Quiet Classroom Game With An Indiscriminable Contingency In A High School, Stefanie Schrieber

Master's Theses

The Quiet Classroom Game (QCG) is an interdependent group contingency utilized to decrease classroom noise levels, increase student engagement, and decrease disruptive behaviors in the classroom setting. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of the QCG in three high school classrooms in the Southeastern United States. Classrooms were recruited based on teacher reports of excessive noise and high rates of disruptive behavior. A multiple baseline design with two intervention phases was utilized to examine the effects of the intervention. The first phase was the QCG alone, and the second phase was the QCG with an …

Changes In Antarctic Bottom Water Formation During Interglacial Periods, Samuel Glasscock

Master's Theses

In the modern Southern Ocean and during the last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage 5, there are observations that point to reduced Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) formation. These reductions are believed to be driven by an increase in the strength of the Southern Ocean density stratification due to surface water freshening. Any reduction in AABW formation has important implications for global climate as AABW plays a vital role in the cycling of carbon in the world’s ocean. The primary question this study seeks to answer is do these AABW reductions occur during any of the other interglacials of the past …

Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling With Autonomous Learning Effects, Jordan M. Ticktin

Master's Theses

It's commonly assumed that experience leads to efficiency, yet this is largely unaccounted for in resource-constrained project scheduling. This thesis considers the idea that learning effects could allow selected activities to be completed within reduced time, if they're scheduled after activities where workers learn relevant skills. This paper computationally explores the effect of this autonomous, intra-project learning on optimal makespan and problem difficulty. A learning extension is proposed to the standard RCPSP scheduling problem. Multiple parameters are considered, including project size, learning frequency, and learning intensity. A test instance generator is developed to adapt the popular PSPLIB library of scheduling …

Performance Enhancement And Characterization Of An Electromagnetic Railgun, Paul M. Gilles

Master's Theses

Collision with orbital debris poses a serious threat to spacecraft and astronauts. Hypervelocity impacts resulting from collisions mean that objects with a mass less than 1g can cause mission-ending damage to spacecraft. A means of shielding spacecraft against collisions is necessary. A means of testing candidate shielding methods for their efficacy in mitigating hypervelocity impacts is therefore also necessary. Cal Poly’s Electromagnetic Railgun was designed with the goal of creating a laboratory system capable of simulating hypervelocity (≥ 3 km/s) impacts. Due to several factors, the system was not previously capable of high-velocity (≥ 1 km/s) tests. A deficient projectile …

The Missing Art: Dance Advocacy And Inter-Arts Collaboration In New Jersey Public High Schools, Vicki Jenkins

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore the effects dance has on New Jersey public high schools’ performing arts curriculum and its students. It also explored how dance was being utilized in schools and the ways in which art teachers worked together in their programs. The research instrument used in this study was an electronic survey that included quantitative and qualitative questions for data gathering. Participants in this study were from eleven New Jersey high schools that included forty-two arts teachers and eight administrators. The data suggested dance was an important component to the performing arts curricula for teachers, …

"To Get A Job In A Broadway Chorus, Go Into Your Dance:" Education For Careers In Musical Theatre Dance, Lauran Stanis

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify necessary education and experiences for dancers who wish to pursue a career in musical theatre dance and identify the content dancers who want to pursue careers in musical theatre dance should be studying. In this project, two groups of individuals were surveyed about their education and experiences. These individuals were those with dance degrees, and those working professionally in musical theatre as dancers or choreographers. A total of 174 subjects participated in the study. Of these participants, ninety-two were dance degree holders and eighty-two were musical theatre dance professionals. Two surveys were …

Dance Competitions: The Culture, The Training, And The Effects On Young Dancers, Teresa Schmitt

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to assist educators, students, and families, in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of participating in competition dance training as it exists in private studios. The researcher evaluated perceptions of competitive dance training through the lens of nine high school aged dancers who participate or did participate in such activities, with a goal of uncovering how this training experience affected them and what they thought about it. The research instrument used in this study was an electronic survey that included questions that produced responses that were analyzed either quantitively or qualitatively, depending on the nature …

Embodying Empathy: Engaging High School Students In Social Awareness Through The Choreographic Process, Rachel Wade

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to gauge growth of student empathy and social awareness as they collaborated through the choreographic process. There were eighteen participants in this study. Through learning about one individual’s experience growing up during the Civil Rights Movement, students used movement and the creative process to unpack ideas and concepts they learned. Through this study, participants used collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and the choreographic process to create a full-length performance. Participants gained a greater understanding and sense of empathy for the experience of the subject and others during this experience. Limitations of this study included potential bias …

Associations Between Waiting Time And Patient Satisfaction Level At Tan Phu District Hospital In Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietham, Luu Tien Dat

Master's Theses

Waiting time for a patient at an outpatient department to see a doctor and completing the examination after registration was one problem in most countries and causes patient dissatisfaction. Long times for waiting leads to a reduction in timely treatment, overcrowding in the waiting area in the hospital, and is majorly unpleasant for any patient. Other factors that can contribute to waiting times are the layout of the medical facilities, the quantity and availability of medical equipment, and patient flow. In Vietnam, a developing country in Southeast Asia, patients are facing an issue of patient overload in public hospitals, especially …

Creating A Dancing Classroom: Understanding In What Ways Integrating Dance Into The Classroom Creates Opportunities For Differentiated Instruction, Impacts Classroom Culture, And Enhances Student Outcomes, Maria Ross Campsey

Master's Theses

The aim of this thesis project was to explore the effects of and response to an integrated arts approach that utilized movement and dance to teach a non-dance curriculum. The focus of this descriptive study was to understand the educational benefits of an arts integrated approach to education using movement and dance. The researcher employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze data from twenty-two first-grade students, two classroom teachers, and the researcher’s observations. The researcher posed the following three research questions in this thesis: Q1 Did the movement and dance integrated arts approach help students understand academic concepts? Q2 …

Line As Descriptor, Adel A. Alanmi

Master's Theses

I develop art that speak both to me and to others about the beauty of art. I have always been interested in art since I was young, and the interest has grown tremendously since then. As an artist , I always feel the urge to come up with new ways of interacting with the world and holding on to it for as long a s possible , although their comes a time you have to let go and create room for new memories. Art serves as a haven as I can distant myself from all the stress and craziness life …

Social Activism: Teaching Activism Through Socially Conscious Plays, Alanna Kiewe

Master's Theses

Students derived numerous benefits while participating in theater by gaining confidence and social skills. To help navigate these skills, this thesis showed that using a socially conscious play helped participants gain empathy, an understanding of their community, and an interest in social activism. This protocol outlined the process of producing And a Child Shall Lead, by Michael Slade. The entire process of working on Slade’s play allowed students in middle school to gain an understanding of the Holocaust and helped them appreciate how social activism can shape communities.

Improving The Knowledge Of Port-A-Cath Care For Nurses, Hoa Thi Nguyen

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to improve the knowledge of port-a-cath care for staff nurses. The main objectives were to assess staff nurses’ knowledge of the port-a-cath care process before the training program and measure knowledge of the device and the procedures associated with the use and maintenance of the device after training. The study used a one group pretest and posttest design. Simple random sampling was done in Hoan My Sai Gon Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (N = 90). The study instrument was a questionnaire that consisted …

Choreography, Student Engagement, And Conclusions: Assessing If Faculty Choreographers Are As Innovative As The Students They Teach, Erika Goe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to access the effectiveness of choreographic devices and how it impacts student engagement when learning choreography. The research aimed to evaluate if choreographic devices have an impact on student engagement by evaluating the utilization of specific choreographic devices when teaching choreography if there were significant differences between faculty and student exploration when creating work and if the differences explored enhanced or diminished student engagement levels. The forty-two participants were attending a junior college in Riverside, California and the research took place over the course of six weeks during the fall and spring semesters. During …

The Power Of Environment As A Tool For Inspiration: Engaging Students Through In-Studio Vs Site-Specific Choreography, Taylor Kath

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of in-studio and site-specific choreographic experiences with the desired result to discoverhow choreographers created, danced, and perceived this work. The research was conducted in a rural area and due to the vast and open terrain, there were incredible opportunities for site-specific work, providing artists with great advantages for inspiration. In a low-populated state with little access to urban art, generating site-specific dance occurrences was vital for both seeing and experiencing dance. The aim of this research was to determine whether in-studio or site-specific choreography provides more inspiration to …

Closing The Opportunity Gap In And Through Dance: A New Rubric Design, Emily Hunter

Master's Theses

The goal of this research was to design a dance audition rubric that could identify both capability and potential in novice students and formally trained dancers alike. The high school targeted in this study was among the top public arts schools in the nation, able to offer unparalleled opportunities to students who gain admission by audition. A problem existed in that students with little or no formal dance training had difficulty gaining entry to the dance program because the existing rubric rewarded evidence of training over raw talent. In designing a new rubric, the hope was to identify one way …