Digital Commons Network^™

Synthesis And Characterization Of Fluorescent Nanojars, Vageesha Warnajith Liyana Gunawardana

Masters Theses

Self-assembly is a powerful tool utilized by synthetic chemists to create large, intricate structures for a variety of applications such as drug delivery, adaptable materials and electronics. In contrast to stepwise synthesis, this process allows the formation of intricate molecular architectures starting from synthetically rudimentary building blocks. Nanojars are class of self-assembling, cyclic copper(II) pyrazolate coordination compounds that encapsulate oxoanions with negative two or three charge. The strong anion binding characteristics of nanojars have potential towards developing novel tools for detecting biologically and environmentally relevant anions such as carbonate, sulfate and phosphate.

This work addresses the design and synthesis of …

Design As An Accompaniment To Performance Art: Incorporating Imagery To Amplify Emotional Impact, Brianna O'Neal

Masters Theses

Design as an Accompaniment to Performance Art: Incorporating Imagery to Amplify Emotional Impact is an investigation of how graphic design can be used to increase the emotional impact of a performance art piece, such as spoken word or music. The research indicates that memory plays a significant role in informing the emotion felt. The felt emotion then allows the viewer to form a perspective on the artistic piece as a whole. However, it is important to note that an individual’s memory cannot be controlled by the artist. Therefore, it is necessary for the artist to place a direct focus on …

Arvo Pärt's "Berliner Messe": An Approach To Understanding And Instructing Serial Techniques In A Minimalist Framework, Jesse Miller

Masters Theses

The music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is something of a phenomenon. Pärt’s music has made a profound connection with audiences, granting Pärt immense popularity and making him the most performed living composer in the world.1 Equally a phenomenon is his own unique tintinnabuli technique that lies at the heart of Pärt’s music and draws as much upon serialism as it does Gregorian chant. While much has been written on Pärt and his original tintinnabuli technique, this qualitative case study focuses on a major work ostensibly overlooked in scholarship, Arvo Pärt’s “Berliner Messe.” The study focuses on the serial aspects …

Seeing By Creativity: A Creative Execution Designed To Bridge The Gap For The Visually Impaired, Breann Carty

Masters Theses

This research explores how design can simultaneously reach people who are visually impaired, along with those who can see, by integrating inclusive design. Research reveals that the visually impaired are frequently overlooked by graphic designers. These findings further show that blind individuals feel excluded from society. The aim of this study is to generate a collection of work that effectively combines visual design and braille to provide visually impaired people with a similar experience to those who are not disabled. To determine the most effective way of combining design elements and braille, experiments within focus groups were conducted. This exploration …

For Better, Or For Worse: Photographing In A Digitally Cluttered Crowd, Dale L. Carty Ii

Masters Theses

In recent years, smartphones have been utilized to photograph treasured moments. However, some are unaware they are distracting others in events such as weddings. The distracting smartphone user could potentially obstruct professional wedding photographers and hinder them from capturing priceless shots. The purpose of this thesis is to research the motive behind the addictive nature of smartphones and potentially decrease the number of smartphone pictures taken during the wedding ceremonies. The goal of this study is to bring awareness to the problem and to create a mobile application, which could then reduce the intrusiveness of smartphones during weddings. The researcher …

The Effect Of Team Sports In Classical, Christian Education, Hannah Grey

Masters Theses

Antoine de Saint-Exupery once noted if you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea (“A quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery,” n.d.). This quote embodies the goal of classical education, but it also parallels the values taught in sport. There has been a resurgence of classical education in recent years, and these new schools are focusing on instilling in students a love for learning, a passion for truth and beauty, and a simultaneous prudent understanding of and appreciation …

Unwritten: The Hidden History Of The Holodomor, Amy Whisman

Masters Theses

Between 1930 and 1933, Joseph Stalin unleashed an assault on Ukraine that resulted in the starvation of 5 million people. Their story went untold for decades. The fact that Soviet propaganda was largely successful in suppressing the truth speaks less to its sophistication than to the gullibility and complicity of Westerners. Although there were truth-tellers from Great Britain, the United States, and even Europe who accurately reported on the Ukrainian famine, Stalin understood that such voices could be effectively neutralized. Because the story of the Holodomor remained essentially unwritten, the West did not recognize it as the legitimate offspring of …

Death, Friendship, And The Power Of Words: Reflections Of The Holocaust In Liesel Meminger’S Traumatic Story, Jerusha J. Yoder

Masters Theses

Recounted through the voice of Death, The Book Thief explores the process of trauma recovery as it follows the story of young Liesel Meminger in Nazi Germany. The traumatic loss of her mother and brother rattle Liesel’s developing identity and destroy her personal narrative; however, as her story unfolds, she finds the strength to recover through the safety of friends and the power of words. Utilizing prominent theories in trauma recovery, this thesis charts Liesel’s recovery process in the wake of her traumatic loss. In this way, her story exposes the destructive power of trauma and affirms the importance of …

Visualizing Grief: An Exploration Of The Stages Of Grief Through Image And Design, Audra L. Rygh

Masters Theses

Grief is an emotion that people have felt since the beginning of time, but in modern culture, there is a lack of visual representation of the five stages of grief. Because grief is a highly personal and unique experience, it can be difficult to visualize what those stages may look like for the mass population. However, if one could develop an understanding of what each stage includes, as well as a study of the thoughts and feelings of those who have experienced grief, this research could aid in the creation of an accurate representation of the stages of grief. The …

The Endgame: America’S Exit From Syria, Gray Thompson

Masters Theses

Ever since the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria fueled civil war costing nearly half a million lives to date, the US response has been cautious indecision. Syria became a proxy war with Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, the Turks, ISIS, the Kurds, and the local Syrian opposition all competing to support or oust Assad. All but the Kurds and select Syrian resistance groups opposed America. With billions spent on questionable war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama, the American public, and most of the military establishment were leery of direct US involvement in Syria. Apart from supporting the fight against …

How To Make It As A Maker: Maximizing Customer Experience To Increase Brand Value In The Saturated Marketplace Of Paper Goods And Gifts, Hannah K. Lynch

Masters Theses

The following thesis investigates the saturated conditions of the paper goods and gift industry, while addressing how the problem of competition discourages start-up brands. Targeted towards rising creative entrepreneurs with ambition to enter the marketplace, the thesis affirms opportunity for breakthrough created by the Maker Movement and identifies strategies for success through attention to customer experience. Based on the trending demand for experience, suggested strategies highlight the primary areas with opportunity for visual application, including brand, product, packaging, social media, and point of purchase. Scholarly research employs primary and secondary resources, along with case studies of successful brands in a …

Mgsnn2: A New Eco-Friendly Wide Band Gap Semiconductor, Krystal R. York

Masters Theses

Materials having a wide band gap (above 2 eV) can provide new alternatives for existing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and other opto-electronic devices. Currently, many such devices are comprised of low-earth-abundant elements, such as gallium and indium, which are harmful to the environment to extract and difficult to recycle. Alternatively, MgSnN2 is an unexplored material comprised of earth abundant elements which benefit from a mature recycling infrastructure. This material has a predicted band gap of 3.43 eV, indicating that it could be a viable substitute for GaN (band gap of 3.4 eV), which is commonly used in LEDs and other device …

Application Of Handheld Ed-Xrf For High-Resolution Chemostratigraphy In Texturally Homogeneous Carbonate Mudstones: Salina A-1 Carbonate (Silurian), Michigan Basin, Matthew A. Hemenway

Masters Theses

Handheld energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (ED-XRF) is routinely used to observe elemental variability in fine-grained siliciclastics but has been applied rarely in fine-grained carbonates. Here, ED-XRF chemostratigraphy is utilized in the texturally homogenous, mudstones of the Silurian A-1 Carbonate (A-1C), Michigan Basin. Previous studies on the A-1C focused on the stratigraphic relationship with the underlying Niagaran reefs, so little is known about the geological variability in the basin center. In this study, high-resolution elemental data from nine cores were integrated with petrographic and mineralogical observations to evaluate two hypotheses: (1) Texturally homogeneous, basin-center mudstones in the A-1C have spatially …

Iarwain Ben-Adar On The Road To Faerie: Tom Bombadil's Recovery Of Premodern Fantasy Values, Greta Rogers

Masters Theses

This thesis project discusses J. R. R. Tolkien's character Tom Bombadil as an agent of recovery of premodern fantasy values. Several premodern fantasy works espouse a sense of harmony with the world as God’s created order, a value that is missing from some postmodern fantasy works. Tolkien’s Tom Bombadil is examined as a means to recover that acceptance of the created order.

The Plausibility Of Animal Sacrifices In Ezekiel 40-48 Literally Operating In The Millennial Kingdom Under The New Covenant, Ian Bacon

Masters Theses

This thesis delves into the controversy surrounding the presence of animal sacrifices in Ezekiel 40-48. In these chapters Ezekiel depicts a temple that dispensationalists believe to be literally fulfilled in the Millennial Kingdom.Yet, some claim that a literal understanding of these sacrifices in the future negates the work of Jesus on the cross. The response by many dispensationlists is to argue that these sacrifices will be performed to memorialize the death of Jesus. This thesis proves that the sacrifices in Ezekiel 40-48 are for purification purposes to atone for the contamination of sin so that the glory of Christ may …

Muzic Appreciation: Bridging The Gap Between Generation Z & Classical Music, Timothy Green

Masters Theses

Today’s music educators stand in a strategic position in the history of classical music in America. At a time when symphony orchestras are struggling to survive due to an aging and declining customer base, a generation of musical omnivores are ripe for a connection to the world of classical music. Generation Z has a vast, eclectic musical appetite, choosing to listen to a variety of genres and styles of music instead of adopting a generational style. However, they have limited interaction with classical music due to certain non-musical attitudes and values. It is possible the disconnect between Generation Z and …

Impact Of A Charter School On House Capitalization In A Title I Environment, Mark Haskew

Masters Theses

This study used a mixed-methods approach to determine whether a charter school could influence house capitalization and whether it could induce some families to stay in the school district. It examined home sale values around a charter school in an area covered by underperforming Title I schools. There was a positive but statistically insignificant change in a pre/post comparison of home sale prices, but the increase was consistent with nearby control schools. However, a survey of charter school families found that 25 percent would have left the district had they not been enrolled at the charter school. A plurality said …

Application Of Narrative Principles To Effectively Communicate Through Graphic Design, Joseph Wright

Masters Theses

From folk tradition to film, story has played a critical role in connecting one person to another. The principles that undergird the construction of exceptional stories may apply to other forms of communication, including visual mediums. Although studies show that storytelling communicates more effectively than simply stating information, the field visual arts has neglected to apply this tactic in its craft. What makes a great story, and why does it have the capability of emotionally moving a person? Why not use the same principles that connect a person to a narrative within the field of graphic design? Because of this …

Unequal Democracies: Economic Sanctions' Impact On Human Rights In Democratic Systems, Daniel Partin

Masters Theses

In the past, research into the field of human rights has treated regime as a dichotomous variable and divided the type of governmental structure into either autocracies or democracies. By lumping all democracies into one category, all variation between different categories of governmental composition is discarded and it is difficult to examine the differences between types of democratic governments and their human rights capacities. Due to their tendency to accrete power centrally, presidential democracies are thought to repress the rights of citizens more often and severely than parliamentary systems. Further, an exogenous shock to the political system, such as the …

Validation Of A Water Quality Index For Lake Erie, Vaclava Hazukova

Masters Theses

This study validates a water quality index based on a diatom total phosphorus transfer function for monitoring of the Lake Erie’s pelagic zone. Lake Erie is again under the threat of cultural eutrophication, mostly due to the runoff of nutrients from the surrounding farmlands. Therefore, it is an issue of high importance to continue monitoring efforts in Lake Erie to assess further deterioration or progressive changes due to the restoration management practices. Diatom-biomonitoring represents one of the efficient and well-crafted tools to assess the actual conditions. However, indices of water quality based on diatom transfer functions are often used without …

Cultural Context: An Argument For New Historicism Over Postmodernism In Analyzing Popular Literature, Conor King

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Prolepsis Through Poe's Narrators: The Prophetic Demise Of The Obsessive Protagonist, Bailey Jarnagin

Masters Theses

Edgar Allan Poe was a pioneer of psychological fiction. His stories center around characters whose reliability is questionable and who are mentally troubled in some way. Poe crafted stories that invoke terror because their subject is the horror of the mind. While readers of other types of horror fiction can finish a story and step away from the monsters with little to no fear of being followed by them, readers of Poe cannot forget the tales they read so readily because the horror of the mind is ever present. Poe crafted such horrific stories because of the haunted palace of …

Organocatalyzed Synthesis Of Epoxides From Chalcones Utilizing Amino Acids, Sabrina N. Kegeler

Masters Theses

The epoxide functional group is important throughout the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as well as in nature. In the chemical industry, epoxides are present in resins and fragrances. In the pharmaceutical industry, epoxide-containing compounds are used as intermediates in the manufacturing of drugs. In nature, many natural products contain epoxide groups and are used for medicinal purposes, and for models to create synthetic molecules.

One approach to epoxide synthesis involves the use of an alkene precursor, a base, and an oxidizing agent. This is where my investigations began. The first step was to optimize the epoxidation reaction, examining substrate scope, …

A Comparison Of Alternative Route Alignments For The North Country Trail Through Calhoun County, Mi, Whitney K. Lambert

Masters Theses

Recreational hiking trails are a popular destination for local residents and tourists, offering health, educational, and social benefits. The North Country Trail (NCT) provides a unique hiking experience because of the many landscapes through which it travels. Because it spans across seven states in the Midwest, a hiker can travel through the mountains of New York, the hardwood forests of upper Michigan, and the plains of South Dakota along one route. When completed, the NCT will be about 4,600 miles; however, there are currently 1,900 miles of undeveloped connector routes during which the route is often located along the road. …

Characterization Of Pinitol Catabolism In Sinorhizobium Meliloti And Its Role In Nodule Occupancy, Angela Irene Kennedy-Mendez

Masters Theses

Sinorhizobium meliloti, which is the nitrogen fixing symbiont of Medicago sativa (alfalfa), was used to test the hypothesis that D-chiro-inositol is an intermediate of pinitol catabolism and that pinitol catabolism plays a role in S. melilot s ability to compete for nodule occupancy. An analytical method, involving gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GCMS), was developed to detect and separate pinitol and D-chiro-inositol. The S. meliloti wild type, and three isogenic mutant strains (idhA, mocD, and mocE) were grown in minimal medium with pinitol and pinitol plus glycerol. The S. meliloti wild type can utilize pinitol as a sole carbon source, …

Peer And Self Reflective Evaluations; Benefits And Techniques Used In A Middle School Art Room Setting, Mary Garrod

Masters Theses

Students’ intentional development as independent learners is increased with the understanding of self efficacy, which contributes to motivation, persistence for learning, and future achievements. However, adolescence is a time when self efficacy and motivation in art often decline. Two effective teaching and learning practices that can aid middle school art educators in the development of adolescent student judgment skills and confidence as independent learners, are self assessment and peer assessment. This paper presents literature on the topics of peer assessment, self assessment, and their link to self efficacy beliefs in adolescents. It then provides applicable, research-based self and peer evaluation …

A Collection Of Three Pieces For Solo Instrument And Electronics, Carolyn Borcherding

Masters Theses

This collection of three musical compositions for solo instruments and electronics explores the interaction between acoustic instruments and electronic media with a specific focus on musical form. The musical form is apparent due to clear musical segmentations, and the coherence of each work is maintained by the inter-contextual relationships evident in the musical material. Each piece is divided into three parts: beginning, middle, and end. Each beginning sets up a strong relationship between the two media by using closely timed action-reaction gestures. The middle section diverges away from these reactionary gestures, while the ending then brings about a short return …

Punks In The Church: The Relationship Between The Punk Subculture And Church In East Germany, Ruth A. Aardsma Benton

Masters Theses

A punk subculture emerged in East Germany during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was an expression of their disillusionment with life, their frustrations with the government, and their pessimistic view of a future that seemed pre-planned. The subculture refused to conform, disengaged from the established system, and expressed their views through song lyrics and other acts of defiance. In the eyes of the state, punks were a threat. The subculture turned to the East German Protestant churches for shelter. The churches occupied a unique place within East German society because the government had granted the churches limited free …

Determination Of Chemical Notch, KChem On Aluminum And Steel When Subjected Under Slow Strain Rate Test In Corrosive Environment, Joshua Teo Lee Kuok

Masters Theses

When designing for any mechanical components or system, the question would arise as to how the material would react to the loads subjected on it? Would the component survive its service load? How would it react to environmental corrosion? To answer these questions, the technique used in this thesis paper is the Slow Strain Rate Test (SSRT) method. Aluminum and steel were chosen as the material to be tested in this paper. Al 7075-T651, and Al 6061-T651 was chosen due to its wide range of application, high strength to weight ratio and ease of machinability. It is highly used in …

Spatial And Temporal Changes In Halal Food Sales And Consumption A Case Study Of The City Of Dearborn, Michigan, Sam Roodbar

Masters Theses

With a population of 3.2 million and growing in the US, Arab Americans are an integral part of the economy and culture of the United States and the world. The southeast portion of the state of Michigan is home to more than 300,000 Arab Americans. One of the main agents of cultural maintenance and support for the Arab American community are their ethnic food traditions, specifically Halal food. Since the introduction of Halal food in the United States, the sales and consumption of Halal products has increased immensely. This research seeks to answer four related questions focused on the entrance …