Digital Commons Network^™

Music Identity And Listening Preferences Of Students In High School Performing Ensembles, Caitlin Harris

Masters Theses

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine and identify the listening preferences and musical identity of high school members of performing ensembles. Participants were involved in five stages of data collection; the initial questionnaire, the first listening journal, a feedback questionnaire, the second listening journal, and individual interviews. Data was collected during the 2017-2018 school year, and participants completed all phases during their personal time. Three research questions framed this study:

1) How do the listening preferences of students help shape their musical identities?

2) Do students’ listening preferences outside of school conflict with their in …

Self-Construal As A Moderator In The Relationship Between Self-Enhancement/Protection And Psychological Well-Being, Asmita Saha

Masters Theses

The purpose of the proposed study was to investigate the relationship between self-enhancement/protection and psychological well-being and to test if these relationships differ depending on whether one has a more independent or more interdependent self-construal. Two hundred and fifty-two participants who were residents of the United States were recruited from Amazon Turk. They responded to scales that measured their self-enhancement/self-protection strategies, independent/interdependent self-construals, positive-negative affect, level of life satisfaction, and psychological distress. The study sample was predominantly White, and participants were significantly more independent than interdependent in their self-construal. Results indicate that self-enhancement was positively associated while self-protection was negatively …

Nanodiamonds And Carbon Nano-Onions Ceramic Composites And Their Applications, Ibrahim Munkaila Abdullahi

Masters Theses

"Luminescent nanodiamonds are photostable non-blinking fluorescent biocompatible, non-toxic, functional Zable materials made from high-pressure high temperature (HPHT) microcrystalline diamonds. For long, the scientific community has been investigating for a clean, efficient and cost-effective technique to reduce the size of fluorescent microcrystalline diamond into nanodiamonds. Their color center, responsible for the fluorescent properties are crucial for their applications, including biomedical imaging, nano sensing, quantum computing etc, and therefore should not be affected significantly by the method of size reduction applied. A novel size reduction technique that is based on explosive fragmentation was developed and the corresponding fragmented diamonds obtained were characterized …

Design And Development Of Power Processing Units For Applications In Electrically-Propelled Satellite Systems, Kartikeya Jayadurga Prasad Veeramraju

Masters Theses

"Electrospray technology provides a way to ionize specialized liquids by applying high voltages across a sharp porous tip and a metallic mesh. This technology is widely used in the field of mass spectroscopy for generating ions for testing purposes. The dawn of nano-satellites posed new challenges in the miniaturization of many conventional satellite sub-systems. One significant challenge faced in such a process was the miniaturization of the propulsion system. Electrosprays have started to find their application in the field of Aerospace Engineering and now are formally known as Electrospray Thrusters. These thrusters provide high specific impulse and are attractive substitutes …

Computer Vision Based Deep Learning Models For Cyber Physical Systems, Muhammad Monjurul Karim

Masters Theses

“Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) are complex systems that integrate physical systems with their counterpart cyber components to form a close loop solution. Due to the ability of deep learning in providing sensor data-based models for analyzing physical systems, it has received increased interest in the CPS community in recent years. However, developing vision data-based deep learning models for CPSs remains critical since the models heavily rely on intensive, tedious efforts of humans to annotate training data. Besides, most of the models have a high tradeoff between quality and computational cost. This research studies deep learning algorithms to achieve affordable and upgradable …

Intrinsic Mechanical Properties Of Zirconium Carbide Ceramics, Nicole Mary Korklan

Masters Theses

“This research focuses on the processing and mechanical properties of zirconium carbide ceramics (ZrC_x). The first goal of this project was to densify near stoichiometric (i.e., x as close to 1 as possible) and nominally phase pure ZrC_x. The maximum stoichiometry achieved for the ZrC_x (C/Zr ratio of 0.92) was measured using gas fusion analysis. Hot pressing was used to obtain dense ZrC_x. Archimedes was used to determine the relative density of hot pressed ZrC_x at > 95%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the overall microstructure of the hot pressed …

Therapeutic Dna: Delivery And As A Delivery Vehicle, Natalie J. Holl

Masters Theses

"A review of gene delivery methods and gene editing methods, as well as original research utilizing DNA as a delivery vehicle is presented in the following thesis. Thousands of diseases have been linked to genes. Gene therapy, either delivering therapeutic genes or editing DNA bases, has arisen as a treatment option with the potential to cure diseases, rather than just ease symptoms. Genes and editing tools need to be delivered to cells for these therapies to be effective and many techniques have been developed to address the issue of delivery. Nonviral and viral methods have been used to deliver nucleic …

Aquatic Plants And Their Application To Successful Floating Treatment Wetlands, Katherine May Mazanec

Masters Theses

“This research aims to mitigate eutrophication of freshwater habitats affected by urban stormwater runoff. Two highly impacted urban ponds near the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla were the focus of this research on the application of floating treatment wetlands (FTWs). An FTW consists of a man-made floating mat that is planted with emergent or floating macrophytes. The plants grow on the mat and their roots extend into the water column below the mat. Plant tissues, especially roots in direct contact with the water, take up nutrients, act as biofilm growth sites, and may facilitate precipitation of nutrients. With urbanization, ponds …

Micro-Analysis Of Contaminants In Suspended Load And Bank Deposits From The Mineral Fork Creek Watershed In Potosi, Missouri, 2019-2020, William Joseph Miller

Masters Theses

”There are rising concerns pertaining to water contamination produced by toxic heavy metal contaminants such as lead and zinc. For this study, lead, zinc, and barite are three identified contaminants currently threatening Missouri water supplies. A microanalysis of the amounts of lead, zinc, and barite in the water of Mineral Fork Creek was conducted, involving both field and laboratory work. The purpose of the study was to determine the levels of lead, zinc, and barite contaminants, contributing to Big River, by Mineral Fork Creek, in Potosi Missouri, Washington County.

This research study uses a quantitative micro-analysis approach to determine the …

Evaluation Of The Symbiotic Relation Between Endophyte And Poplar Trees Exposed To Landfill Leachate, Catalina Vega Hurtado

Masters Theses

“The contamination of soil and groundwater from leachate leakage from landfill has turned, nowadays, into a global public issue. One of the main concerns about this pollutant is the potential threat to human and ecosystem health. The current research studied endophyte bacteria in association with poplar trees (Populus sp.), as a method of bioremediation of landfill leachates. The objective of the project was to identify treatment strategies that may improve plant performance (survival rates, plant fitness, and degradation efficacy) with the purpose of being implemented in phytoremediation plots, aimed to intercept and treat landfill leachate, before the contamination of watershed. …

Quantifying Effects Of Sleep Deprivation On Cognitive Performance, Quang Nghia Le

Masters Theses

“The most commonly used metric for evaluating alertness and vigilance is the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT), previous studies have indicated that alertness and vigilance can be affected by the lack of sleep as a function of sleep loss. This study explores methods to predict median psychomotor vigilance reaction times. The data used in this study comes from a series of tests and surveys conducted on volunteer students. The data set contains many potential predictors of PVT and one aspect of the study was to identify variables that are useful in prediction. The performances of various prediction methods that allow for …

Modal Analysis As Non-Destructive Testing Technique For Additively Manufactured 304l Stainless Steel Parts, Tristan N. Cullom

Masters Theses

“Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods for Additively Manufactured (AM) parts is an ongoing field of research in the additive community due to its ability to determine if a part can be deemed viable for field usage. This study presents modal analysis as a NDT method for AM parts. For production builds that have multiple copies of the same part, a correcting technique can be used such that the frequencies of the parts under test can be reliably compared against each other, which saves both time and money compared to other traditional NDT methods. This study was able to develop a novel …

Soil-Water-Energy Nexus Of Green Roofs, Katherine Ann Bartels

Masters Theses

"As the urban landscape continues to sprawl into previously undeveloped land to accommodate population growth, the need to design cities that effectively manage urban stormwater is imperative for a sustainable future. Green roofs use rain-harvesting techniques to reduce urban stormwater discharge while simultaneously providing traditional roof services as well as several ecosystem services. However, green roof media design varies greatly among commercial applications, and little guidance is available to engineers when selecting the media for prospective green roofs. Efforts to maximize stormwater retention and enhance urban heat island mitigation capabilities of green roofs while concurrently reducing nutrient loading were examined …

On Predicting Stopping Time Of Human Sequential Decision-Making Using Discounted Satisficing Heuristic, Mounica Devaguptapu

Masters Theses

“Human sequential decision-making involves two essential questions: (i) "what to choose next?", and (ii) "when to stop?". Assuming that the human agents choose an alternative according to their preference order, our goal is to model and learn how human agents choose their stopping time while making sequential decisions. In contrary to traditional assumptions in the literature regarding how humans exhibit satisficing behavior on instantaneous utilities, we assume that humans employ a discounted satisficing heuristic to compute their stopping time, i.e., the human agent stops working if the total accumulated utility goes beyond a dynamic threshold that gets discounted with time. …

The Application Of Machine Learning Models In The Concussion Diagnosis Process, Sujit Subhash

Masters Theses

“Concussions represent a growing health concern and are challenging to diagnose and manage. Roughly four million concussions are diagnosed every year in the United States. Although research into the application of advanced metrics such as neuroimages and blood biomarkers has shown promise, they are yet to be implemented at a clinical level due to cost and reliability concerns. Therefore, concussion diagnosis is still reliant on clinical evaluations of symptoms, balance, and neurocognitive status and function. The lack of a universal threshold on these assessments makes the diagnosis process entirely reliant on a physician’s interpretation of these assessment scores. This study …

Link Between Energy Investment In Biosynthesis And Cellular Resistance To Oxidative Insult: Test The Cost-Quality Hypothesis In Insects, Taiwo Bolanle Iromini

Masters Theses

“The metabolic cost of growth is the amount of energy invested to fuel the anabolic biochemical reactions of biosynthesis. It has been implicated in the efficiency of farm animals and fishes, thus, increased economic profit. The metabolic cost of growth in the cockroach nymph was reported to be 20-fold higher than that of the painted lady butterfly caterpillar. The cost-quality hypothesis was proposed to explain the extremely low biosynthesis energy cost in painted lady caterpillar when physiological and ecological processes the metabolic growth cost was attributed to could not. In this study, the cost-quality hypothesis was tested.

Midgut cells were …

Optical Fiber Based Integrity Test Of Civil Engineering Materials: Numerical Analysis, Ruoyu Zhong

Masters Theses

“Major advancement in Civil Engineering cannot be accomplished without the help of sensors. Among different types of sensors, fiber-optic sensor is known for its light weight, high accuracy, resolution, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and resistance to harsh environment. This research mainly focuses on fiber-optic sensor application on concrete structures as temperature sensor. Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) is a non-destructive integrity testing method which makes use of the hydration heat from the concrete curing process to detect defects within a drilled shaft. Any defect of concrete could result in a temperature anomaly in a drilled shaft. The accuracy of the current …

Design, Synthesis, And Characterization Of Chemical Tools To Study Peroxisomal Import, Jhalak N. Timilsena

Masters Theses

Peroxisomes are dynamic and interconnected single lipid membrane bound organelles found in the eukaryotic cells which are involved in various biochemical processes including the b-oxidation of very long chain and branched chain fatty acids, metabolism of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and reduction of hydrogen peroxide among others. These organelles are known to host numerous proteins and enzymes depending on the cellular environment. All of the proteins needed in the peroxisomes are encoded in the nucleus and synthesized in the cytosol which are then transported to the peroxisomes with the help of a sophisticated protein-transport machinery. Pex5 is one of …

Seasonal Temperature Changes In Three Midwestern Wastewater Streams And The Effects On Fish Assemblages And Physiology, Ryan William Sparks

Masters Theses

Midwestern United States undergo extreme temperature and precipitation fluctuations throughout the year, which leads to changing habitats within Illinois river systems. Wastewater treatment facilities have long been used to treat sewage and reduce the organic products in sewage before releasing it into aquatic environments. Wastewater treatment facilities must maintain optimal conditions, especially temperature, for reproduction and growth of facilitated bacteria that break down organic materials in wastewater. The objectives for this study were to determine the thermal effects of wastewater treatment facilities on receiving waters; and secondly, to investigate the influence of these wastewater facilities on fish abundance and assemblages. …

The Determinants Of Sectoral Employment In Nepal, Thaman P. Bastola

Masters Theses

This paper uses the data from 1991 to 2019 to analyze the determinants of employment in agriculture, industrial, and service sectors of Nepal. The data are gotten from the world development indicators (WDI), human development indicators (HDI) and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The results show that significant determinants of employment in Nepal areeducation, health, population growth, interest rate, inflation rate and political conflict.The education, health, population growth, and inflation are inversely related to the employment of agricultural sectors employment. Likewise, the industrial sector employment is positively affected by the health and political conflict, and negatively affected by the level of …

Representations Of Africa In Us Media: A Semiotic Analysis Of Ebola: The Doctor’S Story And Body Team 12, Olubusola Akinpelu

Masters Theses

The Western media has often been criticized for biased coverage of happenings in and around Africa. The 2014 Ebola outbreak created a lot of media attention for West Africa, and by extension, the entire continent. This study examined to what extent postcolonial discourses were infused in two films from the HBO Trilogy: Ebola: The Doctor’s Story (2015) and Body Team 12 (2015). To analyze these texts, I took a semiotic approach by identifying, describing and interpreting the signs in both films, to discuss the postcolonial discourses in three broad themes. Ebola: The Doctor’s Story (2015) was analyzed in the …

Adjustment To Life In America: Black African Graduate Level Students, Denver Daniels

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine what challenges Black African graduate students face when adjusting to life in the United States. A secondary concern was to examine what coping strategies were used during the transition. A qualitative approach was used to interview the participants and through coding, develop themes related to their time as graduate students.

This study concluded that there were a number of issues that Black African graduate students face. The students reported that they experienced homesickness, culture shock, and discrimination during their time at school. Specific themes also emerged as to how they coped with …

Financial Development In Developing Countries, Obinna Franklin Ezeibekwe

Masters Theses

What are the economic, political, institutional, socio-cultural, and geographical determinants of financial development in developing countries? This paper uses the two-way fixed effects (with clustered standard errors) and annual panel data from 1980 to 2018 for 69 developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, East and South Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean to address this question. The principal component analysis is employed to construct a financial development index based on three financial development indicators. This study builds on previous studies by introducing new potential determinants of financial development, such as the perception of corruption, and by …

The Path To Persistence: How Highly-At-Risk Students Persevere To Graduation Day, Alexis Kaine Straub

Masters Theses

This phenomenological study looked at highly-at-risk college seniors who exhibited four out of the eight risk factors defined by the institution where the study took place. The purpose was to gain insight into how highly-at-risk college seniors persist to graduation by discovering what protective factors they utilized in their college career as well as the role resiliency and/or grit may have played. The participants were five undergraduate students who were enrolled at a mid-sized, public university in the rural Midwest. They responded to questions in one semi-structured interview designed to capture their experiences about college starting from high school until …

First-Generation Black Males’ Challenges In Attending A Pwi: Understanding What Makes Them Persist, Shakeitra Simmons

Masters Theses

Using qualitative methodology, the researcher studied the challenges and persistence factors for undergraduate First-generation Black males to persist at a Predominantly White Institution. Through conducting six one-on-one semi-structured interviews, the researcher identified the challenges faced by this group of students as mental health, lack of support, and racism/microaggressions. The researcher also identified the factors for persistence at the PWI to be upward mobility, family and school personnel support, and campus involvement.

Boutique Branding: Televisually Signifying The Feminine Business-Owner, Payton Blakney

Masters Theses

While women-owned businesses continue to grow, increasing 58 percent from 2007 to 2018 (Guidant Financial, 2019),producing on-brand communication content remains a challenge. Adding to the challenge, this branded communication must combat the societal narrative that women are less capable of running a business than men and utilize the complex mode of televisual storytelling. The purpose of this creative thesis was to incorporate the work of woman television producers and writers from the comedy-drama genre with semiotics theory to create five webisodes of branded entertainment that married the contradictory sign systems of woman and business owner. By analyzing and implementing the …

How Christian College Student Leaders Discover Purpose, Emmanuel Ayiku

Masters Theses

Among college students, research has revealed that 76% of them reported that they search for meaning in life (Dunn & Hammer, 2015). Spirituality is one specific way in which students begin their search for meaning. A qualitative approach was used to examine the perspectives of how six Christian college student leaders from three different campus ministries found their purpose. By examining and understanding purpose from one subset of religious students who serve in a leadership position, we may gain insight into the interplay of meaning-making, purpose, and leadership. This study concluded that faith or spirituality played an important role in …

Construct Validity Of The Behavior Assessment System For Children-Third Edition Teacher Rating Scales (Basc-3 Trs): Comparisons With The Adjustment Scales For Children And Adolescents (Asca), Shannon Burback

Masters Theses

The Behavior Assessment Scale for Children-Third Edition Teacher Rating Scale Child Form (BASC-3 TRS-C) and the Adjustment Scales for Children and Adolescents (ASCA) are both teacher rating scales which may be used by school psychologist to assess youth behavior problems. The BASC, BASC-2, and BASC-3 have limited replicated research of the studies reported in their respective manuals. Therefore, it was important to empirically compare the BASC-3 TRS-C with the ASCA to examine construct validity (convergent, discriminant, and divergent) as there were, at present, no published studies replicating BASC-3 Manual research. The present study analyzed BASC-3 TRS-C and ACSA ratings which …

The Impact Of Testing On Students, Teachers, And Families, Ashley Retz

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Growing Pains: Self-Efficacy Development In Resident Assistants, Zachary King

Masters Theses

This qualitative study examined the perspectives of Resident Assistants’ (RAs) in terms of job responsibilities, the interplay between job tasks and self-efficacy, and mitigating factors that impact the RAs self-efficacy. Mastery experiences, verbal persuasions, and staff dynamic were perceived as the primary mitigating factors that positively and negatively impact a Resident Assistant’s self-efficacy. Although not shared by all the participants, other migrating factors included vicarious experiences and physiological/affective states. Student affairs professionals should focus on the impact of staff dynamic, the why and how tasks are completed, and placing a greater emphasis on recognizing the work of resident assistants. It …