Digital Commons Network^™

Y U No Ansr? A Chronemics Analysis Of Electronic Communications, Lauren Vorderkunz

Masters Theses

This paper explores current literature related to chronemics in electronic communication to show that emailing, texting, and social media should be studied in order to understand how one’s self-esteem is affected by these forms of communication to bring about a greater awareness. This research describes a sample study of college students’ reactions to response times using a mixed methods approach, specifically an explanatory sequential model. Through an evaluation of Zimbardo’s (1999) time perspective studies, peer reviewed journal articles, and computer-mediated communication chronemic studies, this paper provides an argument that response times in electronic communications indicate priority and hierarchy between communicators …

Investigating Ph Banding Kinetics Of Chara Corallina In Alternating Light Conditions With Rectangular Pulse Voltammetry, Matthew C. Zandee

Masters Theses

Chara corallina is an important biological model due to its large internodal cells, the simple shape, and the wide range of techniques that can be used to study it. The alternating acidic and basic banding pattern of Chara corallina upon illumination has been studied and well described over the past several decades. However, much of this complex mechanism is not fully understood. Few studies have shown how the acidic and basic regions have responded in real time as lighting conditions change. Utilizing rectangular pulse voltammetry (RPV) and pH-sensitive carbon microelectrodes along the cell wall allows for a real time profile …

Coming Home: How Identity Plays A Role In Students Who Study Abroad In An Area That Is Representative Of Their Heritage, Mariana I. Naddaf

Masters Theses

Study abroad participation has more than tripled over the past two decades in the United States and has led to increased research efforts on topics such as the benefits of study abroad and the development of students who study abroad; however, little research exists on students who have heritage connections to the area in which they study abroad. In order to address this need within the field of higher education and study abroad, a hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to explore what factors, if any, affect changes in identity salience for students who study abroad in areas that are …

Madness, Death, And Civilization: Non-European Women Under Patriarchy And Imperialism, Mengying Li

Masters Theses

In light of Wide Sargasso Sea, through which Jean Rhys intends to provide the madwoman Bertha in Jane Eyre with a voice and a life, this thesis attempts to reread Jane Eyre from a postcolonial perspective, arguing that both texts can be read as critiques of the cruelty and inhumanity of European civilization. After the English beat the Spanish at sea, and complete the First Industrial Revolution, it establishes the country as the greatest imperialistic power in the world. The need of labor, raw material, and new market leads them to develop colonies in remote areas like the Caribbean. By …

Does Phosphorus From Agricultural Tile Drains Fuel Algal Blooms?, Delilah R. Clement

Masters Theses

Phosphorus (P) is often implicated as a contributing factor to algal blooms. Attention has been focused on P in surface runoff, but agricultural tile drains also can be a source. Lake Macatawa is a hypereutrophic lake located in west Michigan, and the watershed is dominated by row crop agriculture. Further research is needed to understand the influence of bioavailable P originating from tile drains on water quality in Lake Macatawa. The objectives of this study were to 1) conduct a tile drain effluent sampling survey to assess their importance as a source of P in the Macatawa Watershed; 2) investigate …

The Role Of Sexual Self-Disclosure In Partner Relational Satisfaction And Uncertainty, Riley Richards

Masters Theses

Sexual communication and sexual self-disclosure (SSD) are often viewed as taboo and uncomfortable when discussed between sexual partners. Prior research has demonstrated a strong connection between SSD and other relational factors in current dating and married partners. To that end, this study uses an Actor-Partner Independence Model (APIM) with current cross-sex sexual and romantic partners to understand how emergent adults experience SSD and the role it plays in their relational satisfaction and uncertainty. Social Penetration Theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) undergirds this study as a theoretical foundation in fleshing out the ways emergent adults self-disclose about their sexual lives to …

Changes In The Eeg Spectrum Of A Child With Severe Disabilities In Response To Power Mobility Training, Nadina Zweifel

Masters Theses

Literature suggests that self-generated locomotion in infancy and early childhood enhances the development of various cognitive processes such as spatial awareness, social interaction, language development and differential attentiveness. Thus, having access to a power mobility device may play a crucial role for the overall development, mental health, and quality of life of children with multiple, severe disabilities who have limited motor control. This study investigates the feasibility of using electroencephalography (EEG) as an objective measure to detect changes in brain activity in a child due to power mobility training. EEG data was collected with a modified wireless neuroheadset using a …

Registration And Segmentation Of Multimodality Images For Post Processing Of Skeleton In Preclinical Oncology Studies, Vineeth Radhakrishnan

Masters Theses

Advancements in medical imaging techniques provide biomedical researchers with quality anatomical and functional information inside preclinical subjects in the fields of cancer, osteopathic, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative research. The throughput of the preclinical imaging studies is a critical factor which determines the pace of small animal medical research. The time involved in manual analysis of large amount of imaging data prior to data interpretation by the researcher, limits the number of studies in a time frame.

In the proposed solution, an automated image segmentation method was used to segment individual vertebrae in mice. Individual vertebrae of MOBY atlas were manually segmented …

Categorization Of Food Value Via Crayfish Aggression, Justin Thanh-Tuan Tran

Masters Theses

In numerous species, social interactions play a key role in deciding the allocation of resources. Aggression is a tactic that crayfish utilize to become dominant, which allows them to acquire higher quality resources. Many studies of aggression and agonistic interactions have used crayfish because they are known to be innately aggressive and are quick to become involved in agonistic interactions that may escalate into fighting. The primary objective of this study is to elucidate the relationship between differing food resources and their effect on aggression of crayfish. It is hypothesized that increased desirability for the food resource will induce more …

The Effect Of Seasonal Fish Migration On Energy Budgets In Two Coastal Michigan Streams, Emily M. Dean

Masters Theses

Migratory fish are known to seasonally enter coastal stream systems but the magnitude of the effects these migrations have on stream energy budgets is not fully understood. The Laurentian Great Lakes have several introduced and native adfluvial fish, where only a few studies have investigated the impacts of their migration on energy budgets in Michigan coastal streams. We quantified the contribution of energy from Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) muscle and eggs, steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) eggs, and larval white suckers (Catostomus commersonii) to coastal stream energy budgets. Energy densities and energy delivered to streams were estimated using bomb calorimetry and annual …

Retaining Staff Members Of Color At A Midwestern Predominantly White Institution, Tiffany L. Steele

Masters Theses

There continues to be a gap between the growing multicultural student body and predominantly White faculty and staff members who work with students. One factor in increasing the likelihood of persistence in college for minoritized students is the presence of a mentor with a similar ethnic background. Nevertheless, as of 2004, the populations of faculty, staff and administrators are still disproportionately dominated by White Americans. This study investigated how a university or college can better retain staff members of color. The participants were current and past staff members of color who worked at one university within the Midwestern United States. …

Interaction Between Human Experience, Landscape , And Coffee Production In The Blue Mountain Region Of Jamaica, Shohei Yoshida

Masters Theses

In today's coffee industry, individual farmers’ identities are hardly visible from the products we buy. Each coffee farmer has different lifestyles and methods of coffee farming. Such information about farmers can make each cups of coffee potentially unique in consumers’ experience. However, there are barriers which make consumers blind from the identities of the farmers making their coffee. I will explain about the barriers, and introduce the way to make consumers associate individual farmers' identities with each cup of coffee they drink. This thesis mainly consists of two parts: a theoretical part and a poetry part. There is a small …

Becoming Self: A Jungian Approach To Paradise Lost, Geoffrey Kishbaugh

Masters Theses

When addressing Paradise Lost, the reader is not encountering static characters but is interacting with and being acted upon by highly symbolic manifestations of the primitive condition of humanity‟s collective psyche. In dealing with the figures of Christianity‟s mythos, John Milton creates a text that stimulates the collective unconscious of the reader and draws out the primordial expressions of the self—archetypal manifestations. Subsequently, these manifestations are projected back onto the figures within the text and the reader engages in a dynamic relationship with the poem as both the reader and the figures of Adam and Eve experience the process of …

Bsent From The Body, Present With The Lord: A Traditional Evangelical Critique Of Traditional Roman Catholic And Non-Traditional Evangelical Teachings Regarding Purgatory, Thomas Gentry

Masters Theses

Traditional Roman Catholic theology and certain non-traditional expressions of evangelical theology teach that Christians who die without realizing perfect holiness will enter into a postmortem state called purgatory for the purpose of preparing them to behold the beatific vision of God in heaven. The purpose of this work is to refute these teachings by proving that they are unbiblical. The procedure for doing is to first summarize the traditional Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory; second, present interpretations of select biblical and apocryphal texts related to purgatory from the pro-purgatory perspective, followed by a traditional evangelical response; third, present a four-fold …

Royal Advice And Religious Authority In Smaragdus Of St. Mihiel's Via Regia:An Analysis And Critical Edition, Roland Black

Masters Theses

Around 813 CE, the Carolingian monk Smaragdus of St. Mihiel produced the first medieval moral guidebook for a king, entitled the Via regia. The text was most likely intended for Charlemagne’s sole surviving heir, Louis the Pious. Smaragdus incorporated passages from both the Old and New Testaments and provided exegesis meant to guide the king in correct moral behavior. The text asserted the critical importance of the king’s correct moral behavior, and offered a window into the Carolingian court as well as political and religious life at the turn of the ninth century. Presented here for the first time …

The Value Of The Arts In Education, Thorin Teague

Masters Theses

Art is a subject that has no substitute, as the learning and production of art satisfies a uniquely human need to communicate and connect with other human beings. The marriage of art and society can (and should) be thought of as culture. This author intends to assert that the arts have a critical place in education and indeed human society itself, bringing ancillary benefits to bear on the subject without relying on them as the primary justification for the retention and even expansion of arts programs; education (which could in turn be thought of the dissemination of cultural knowledge) of …

Application Of Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry For Ionic Liquids And Their Biodegradation Products, Sepideh Rahbarirad

Masters Theses

Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with unique physico-chemical properties and are used as green alternatives to volatile organic solvents. ESI-MS is a sensitive technique to detect these stable, permanent ions. My research focused on (1) Identification of biodegradation products of ionic liquids and (2) Multiplexed tandem MS by modulation of ionization efficiency.

Studies, have demonstrated that ILs are toxic to the environment, which makes their biodegradability an important consideration. In this work, metabolites generated during the biodegradation of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIM), a degradation resistant and commonly used ionic liquid, are identified using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).

Multiplexed …

Targeting Interventions To Reduce Chlamydia-Related Disparities In Kalamazoo County Using Gis And Statistical Analysis, Claudio Owusu

Masters Theses

The annual incident rates of chlamydia continue to rise within Kalamazoo County despite an increase in public health campaign, particularly for persons between the ages of 15-24. This trend in incidence rates of chlamydia by age also shows strong disparities in race/ethnicity and gender at state and county levels. With the increasing burden on the cost of treatment of chlamydia, which is one of the many sexually transmitted infections, targeting high risk populations offers a means of reducing the cost and the spread of the infection. This has shaped attention of researchers and policy makers to the complexity of the …

Geochemical And Petrological Studies On The Origin Of Nickel-Copper Sulfide Mineralization At The Eagle Lntrusion In Marquette County, Michigan, Benjamin Davis Hinks

Masters Theses

The Eagle magmatic intrusion is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in Marquette County. It hosts a high grade magmatic nickel-copper sulfide ore deposit. Country rocks surrounding the Eagle intrusion are metamorphosed slate and greywacke of the Proterozoic Michigamme Formation and Archean granite-gneiss. The aim of this thesis is to characterize the magmatic sulfide mineral deposit at Eagle and to establish its relationship to the surrounding host rocks of the Baraga Basin area.

The Eagle East intrusion is located 600 meters east of the Eagle intrusion. These two intrusions are similar in composition and sulfide mineralization. Sulfide textural domains …

Using Photography As An Anthropological Approach To Studying Culture At The Mount Pleasant Lndian Lndustrial Boarding School, 1893-1934, David Brown

Masters Theses

This project is designed to study the culture of Native American boarding schools through the visual domain of photography. I have chosen the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan as a case study. I specifically examine how photographs depict themes of Native American student assimilation, domestic care and order, living conditions, communication, ethnic composition, and resistance. There has been very little written on the history and culture of the boarding school in Mount Pleasant, much less any analysis that has been done with the photographs. I am combining the available written and visual materials of …

Oppression, Evaluation, And Direction: Understanding Character Agency Through The Music Of Wozzeck, Eric Allen Hester

Masters Theses

In Alban Berg’s opera, Wozzeck, the concept of agency is one of fundamental importance. The oppressive dictates of fate and social position are featured prominently in the plot of the opera, and the characters evaluate their relationship with these oppressive structures in order to direct their agency. This thesis explores how Berg uses musical form, leitmotivs, and semiotic topics to show how characters engage in this evaluative act and ultimately find agency in their world. Music-drama analysis in this paper is approached from a Peircean semiotic perspective, exploring how the dramatic meaning behind the music is used to inform …

Examining The Effectiveness Of A Training Video On The Lmplementation And Lnterpretation Of A Functional Analysis, Alissa Anne Conway

Masters Theses

Functional behavior assessment (FBA), and more specifically functional analysis (FA), refer to structured assessment processes designed to identify the controlling variables for challenging behaviors across children, adolescents, and adults. The results from a functional analysis are used to match therapy techniques to unique causal variables for challenging behaviors and also to select more adaptive replacement behaviors that produce similar functions as the challenging behaviors. As functional analysis techniques, in all variations, have become more commonplace in applied behavior analysis (ABA), attention has turned to how to train practitioners to implement FAs, interpret the results, and use the FAs to inform …

Model Based Vehicle Simulation For Electrically Actuated Transmission Test Cells, Kenneth L. Gruel

Masters Theses

The Eaton Vehicle Group is responsible for the development of a large family of automotive products, including manual and automated manual transmissions for light, medium, and heavy duty vehicles. To further expand the transmission testing capabilities at Vehicle Group headquarters, the Vehicle Simulator system was developed and integrated into an existing motor-based test cell. System development time and cost were reduced by leveraging readily available vehicle models and real-time hardware. The Vehicle Simulator system allows a user to control the speed and torque settings of the test cell motors in manual mode, or switch the motors to vehicle emulation mode. …

Missa Yielu: Music In The Dagara Mass, Karin Rau

Masters Theses

This paper explores the music of Dagara Masses in Ghana. The Dagara people are defined and described according to the geography of their land and linguistic dialects spoken in the region. A discussion of cultural indicators highlights traditional occupations, family structure, and social practices. Dagara musical practices are outlined by function and include descriptions of instruments and how they are played. Examination of indigenous religious beliefs describe the behaviors, values, and symbols that permeate Dagara life. A summary of the Dagara's encounter with Christianity sets the scene for present-day celebrations of the Mass. Through observation and interview, research was conducted …

The Gĩkũyũ Mũtũrĩrũ: Preserving A Piece Of Kenya's Agrarian Past Through Flute Music, Jennifer Larue

Masters Theses

The Agĩkũyũ people of Kenya are one of the largest people groups in Kenya. However, systematic repression of Gĩkũyũ culture led to many traditional elements being forgotten, put aside, if not lost completely. The mũtũrĩrũ, a bark flute used when herding and in certain ritual dances, was one such element. The mũtũrĩrũ was initially a temporary instrument, which evolved into more permanent bamboo versions. These may have between two and six finger holes. Another version, called a "spider web mũtũrĩrũ" has no finger holes but has a paper membrane over one end to create a buzzing timbre effect. Research was …

Assessment Of A New Healthy Food Policy At Two Food Pantries In Grand Rapids, Mi, Katherine D. Hekstra

Masters Theses

Background The purpose of food pantries has traditionally been to provide short-term assistance to food insecure individuals, however recent research indicates that food pantries are often used longer periods of time. This increased use indicates a greater importance for food pantries to distribute nutrient-dense foods to food insecure individuals, some who may suffer from chronic disease. Objectives This study measured food pantry client satisfaction pre- and post- implementation of a new healthy food policy at two Grand Rapids, MI food pantries. An additional purpose was to measure the change in food environment and distribution of nutrient-dense foods after implementation of …

The Effects Of Three Seating Arrangements On Players’ Preference Of Sound In A String Orchestra, Tammy J. Clark

Masters Theses

The purpose of this exploratory, action research study was to investigate the effect of three seating arrangements on players’ preference of sound in the string orchestra. Research questions included the following: (a) How was the players’ perception of string orchestra sound affected by the repositioning of sections across the orchestra? (b) What seating arrangement do orchestra members prefer? (c) How do the preferences of orchestra members vary by section, gender, grade and years of playing experience? High school orchestra members recorded three different one-minute excerpts each in three different seating arrangements. After listening to the recorded excerpts, they chose which …

In This Together: Secondary Language Arts Teachers’ Responses To Learning Labs, Lisa A. Britten

Masters Theses

Since the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was signed into law in 2001, literacy leaders and other school administrators have been challenged to increase student achievement to meet the law’s rigorous student proficiency goals and avoid penalties. To avoid the sanctions associated with not making adequate yearly progress (AYP), school and district leaders have been challenged to provide teachers with professional development that effectively equips teachers with the knowledge to meet the unique needs of each student in their classrooms. Because research has determined that high-quality professional development leads to higherquality teaching, and higher-quality teaching leads to increased student …

My Friendship Story: Tanzanians’ Tales Of Friendship Analyzed Through Knapp’S Relational Model, Dorcus Nakalembe

Masters Theses

From both theoretical and practical considerations, there is a critical need to study friendship development processes within different sociocultural worlds, because today’s world has become a crossroads for a diversity of cultures. To date, research in friendship development mainly addresses cognitive and psychological implications to the process and rarely gives attention to the stages/ processes individuals of different sociocultural backgrounds experience as they build friendship. The present study aimed at comparing friendship development in a non-Westernized group to the stages of relational development suggested by a Western psychological theoretical framework. Tanzanian friendship experiences were analyzed through Knapp’s Relational Model to …

Sophomore Student-Athletes' Perceptions Of Athletic Academic Support Services, Lindsey Sturm

Masters Theses

Student-athletes' are faced with a unique set of challenges to balance both athletic and academic responsibilities. Many colleges and universities have provided their student-athletes with support services to help assist them in achieving academic success. This study focused on sophomore student-athletes perceptions of their institution's resources and their identity as a collegiate athlete. Chickering and Reisser's (1993) theory of identity development was used to better understand the new experiences and development of student-athletes' during their transition from freshman to sophomore year. The results of the present study indicated that without the athletic academic support services, student-athletes felt they would not …