Digital Commons Network^™

How Real Is Reality? : An Examination Of Perceived Realism And Permissive Sexual Attitudes In Relation To Reality Dating Shows, Margaret E. Bennett

Theses

This study investigated whether exposure to reality dating shows shaped participants’ perceptions of reality and permissive sexual attitudes, with the incorporation of more recent reality dating shows. A sample of 156 college-aged students participated in an online survey. Gender predicted the amount of exposure to reality dating shows, with females watching more than males. Heavy exposure was not a predictor of permissive sexual attitudes. Heavy exposure did predict how realistic the viewers perceived the reality dating shows to be. However, perceived realism was not related to permissive sexual attitudes. Perceived realism also did not play a moderating or mediating role …

Riot And Ruckus: Nationalism On Stage In The Early Modernist Theater Of The Futurists And Ballets Russes, 1909-1914, Ashley Diann Ray

Theses

Objective: How and why did the early modernist groups of the Ballets Russes and the Italian Futurists utilize nationalism in their early theatrical programs? In this study we look at the genesis and early artistic influences of Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, and F. T. Marinetti, founder of the Italian Futurists. We consider the political affiliations and ideals of nationalism of these two men and those artists crucial to both movements. The issue of the crisis of modernity is discussed, and how both art movements react to, and are products of this crisis. Through early writings, compositions, poems, …

Architecture As Communication: A Study Of The Role Of Form, Function And Context In Evoking Meaning, Priyanka Sondhi

Theses

The aim of this thesis is to understand and design an architecture that includes as part of its program, the function of communication of a certain encoded idea(s) through the public's everyday interaction with it. This thesis is divided into two parts - exploration and design project. The exploration part studies the methods and history of communicating meaning through architecture. Based on this study a design project was defined which included picking an appropriate site, identifying the meaning to be communicated for the site context, studying the context for such communication and designing a building program and form.

Rochester, being …

Mining And Integration Of Structured And Unstructured Electronic Clinical Data For Dementia Detection, Joseph Bullard

Theses

Dementia is an increasing problem for the aging population that incurs high medical costs, in part due to the lack of available treatment options. Accordingly, early detection is critical to potentially postpone symptoms and to prepare both healthcare providers and families for a patient's management needs. Current detection methods are typically costly or unreliable, and could greatly benefit from improved recognition of early dementia markers. Identification of such markers may be possible through computational analysis of patients' electronic clinical records. Prior work on has focused on structured data (e.g. test results), but these records often also contain natural language (text) …

Matural Exams In Kosovo: An Analysis On 2014 Test Results, Genta Agaj

Theses

The focus of this research project was to address some of the criticisms associated with Kosovo’s standardized tests - Matura Exams. The main goal of the project was to statistically analyze students’ test results using three statistical techniques. This problem was tackled by obtaining the 2014 results for the Municipality of Prishtina.

First, Prishtina’s Matura Exam test results were checked for normality. The results from this test suggested that even though Matura Exam is supposed to have normally-distributed results, it failed to do so. Its implications include students and universities not being able to compare individual results with the population …

Conversion Of Neural Network Models To State-Space Models For Model-Based Control Design, Sai Susheel Praneeth Kode

Theses

The objective of this research is to implement an artificial neural network into a closed-loop model based control law that requires a state space model. Model based control laws are strongly preferred due to the existence of mathematical proofs for their performance. With mathematical proof of performance, the controller is guaranteed to work correctly within a designed domain of operation. However, deriving physics based mathematical models and accurately identifying the parameters of such models are cumbersome, or sometimes impossible, for complex nonlinear systems. This limits the application domain of model based controllers. Neural networks are a great tool for modeling …

The Readiness Of Primary Trained Graduate Teachers To Effectively Manage Classrooms In Kimberley Schools In Western Australia, Amanda Mccubbin

Theses

This study is unique in that it investigates the nature of the relationship between classroom management strategies, neophyte teachers and Indigenous students, in remote area classrooms. Given that the student population and teaching conditions in remote schools is usually significantly different from the demography of the students encountered in pre-service practica, the purpose of this research is to determine the effectiveness of course-specific classroom management strategies with Indigenous students located in a specific remote region of Western Australia.

This study was undertaken in both Department of Education and Catholic Education Office schools within the Kimberley region of Western Australia. This …

Beauty As A Transcendental In The Thought Of Joseph Ratzinger, John Jang

Theses

This thesis aims to explore the method and content of Joseph Ratzinger’s aesthetics from a philosophical perspective. Ratzinger takes up Plato’s description of man’s encounter with beauty as a wounding by the power of eros, and argues that the involvement of emotion in this experience does not render it irrational, but rather, stresses that the feeling of beauty is in accordance with logos, since the domain of logos reaches far beyond abstract processes of reasoning. Moreover, Ratzinger rejects the notion that beauty is simply a cover over what is fundamentally ugly. According to Ratzinger, beauty is the foundation …

Classroom Teachers Meeting The New National Professional Standards For Teachers Specifically Standards 1.4 And 2.4, Lisa Buxton

Theses

Commitment to enhancing the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people has long been the aspiration in Australia. Research over many years has, however, noted inequitable outcomes between these children and their non-Indigenous counterparts. The groundswell of support for reconciliation and the ongoing determination to enhance the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people more recently has seen the inclusion of two new Standards in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers that teachers have to meet to gain and retain registration as a teacher in Australia. The first Standard required …

A Critique Of The English Translations Of The Roman Canon With A Comparative Study Of Their Implications, Giorgio Nulley

Theses

The thesis examines the English translation of the Roman Canon from the relevant Latin Typical Edition texts initially revised by decree of the Second Vatican Council and published by authority of Pope Paul VI and subsequently revised at the direction of Pope John Paul II as the Third Typical Edition. This examination will critique language, grammar, punctuation and syntax of the two translations to the Latin text of the Roman Canon. Included in the examination will be a discussion and analysis of the role of punctuation in the theological understanding of the content of the prayers of the Roman Canon. …

Playing To Engage: Fostering Engagement For Children And Teachers In Low Socioeconomic Regions Through Science And Mathematics Play-Based Learning, Stephanie Smith

Theses

Commitment to improving the literacy and numeracy results of children from low Socio Economic Backgrounds (SES) has long been a priority of the Australian Federal and State Governments. Upon entering formal schooling these children frequently start on a back foot compared with their middle and high SES counterparts. Often this is because of differences in their upbringing, including limited access to educational toys, more limited vocabulary as they engage with adults and other children and infrequent attendance at early learning facilities.

Over the past decade, as identified by the Australian Chief Scientist, the number of children selecting career pathways into …

Our (Different) Place In The World Internationalising An Architectural Curriculum To Help Prepare Students For Professional Practice In A Transnational World, Johanna Cleary

Theses

Internationalisation of the Curriculum (IoC) is an idea whose time has come. The intention behind this educational agenda is to help prepare graduates for professional life in a transnational world characterised by diverse mobilities and cultural hybridity. The process of internationalizing a curriculum is context-dependent: IoC looks different in different disciplines, institutions and countries. A rapidly globalising world intimately affects the practice of architecture where the transnational flows of people, information and capital intersect in our cities presenting complex challenges to professional architectural practice. Yet the teaching of architecture is seen as anachronistic: national systems of accreditation and professional registration …

Participatory Action Research: Effect Of Emphasising Graduate Attributes On Work-Placement Reflection, Julie Dunne

Theses

This project aimed to investigate what the effect of activities to promote awareness of graduate attributes development introduced during 2014/15 would be on the quality of reflection displayed in student pharmacy technicians’ workplacement blogs. The project was undertaken in response to a deficit in critical reflection shown in earlier years. The work-placement blogs from 2013/14 were used as a comparison for this study. The theoretical perspective included a constructivist ontological position and an interpretivist epistemological position. The methodology was participatory action research involving the Pharmacy Technician students as co-researchers. The cycles of action and research aligned to three research objectives, …

Comparative Analysis Of Intercultural Communication Apprehension Displayed By International Students In The Us Interacting With American Students And Other Internationals, Laura Nunez Quero

Theses

This study compares the levels of intercultural communication apprehension of two groups of international students in the United States when interacting with American students and with each other. These groups are Indian students and Dominican students. Results indicate no significant difference on the levels of anxiety that both populations experience while interacting interculturally. However, in both cases, subjects with a poorer dominance of the English language, regardless of other variables such as gender and age, experience higher levels of intercultural communication apprehension (ICA).

Bilingualism, Executive Function, And Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Carina Ann Beck

Theses

In an era where the diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is as high as 7% in school-aged children, the search for causes and preventions has never been more important. Current research indicates a positive relationship between bilingualism, particularly native bilingualism, and executive function in normally developing individuals. This study served to examine the potential relationship between bilingual education in a public school setting and the presence of ADHD symptoms in that school's students. This was a comparative analysis of students in a South Florida School District's two-way immersion program with the national average in terms of frequency of ADHD …

Gesture Recognition Using Hidden Markov Models Augmented With Active Difference Signatures, Himanshu Kumar

Theses

With the recent invention of depth sensors, human gesture recognition has gained significant interest in the fields of computer vision and human computer interaction. Robust gesture recognition is a difficult problem because of the spatiotemporal variations in gesture formation, subject size, subject location, image fidelity, and subject occlusion. Gesture boundary detection, or the automatic detection of the onset and offset of a gesture in a sequence of gestures, is critical toward achieving robust gesture recognition. Existing gesture recognition methods perform the task of gesture segmentation either using resting frames in a gesture sequence or by using additional information such as …

Social Networks As Command & Control Channels For Botnets, Adam St. Onge

Theses

The weakest link in detecting Botnets is typically the communication channel. What if there was a possibility to leverage existing high volume communication channels such as social networks for the command and control traffic of a botnet? Utilizing a social network such as Twitter, has many advantages over alternative methods, when done properly it is easier to hide in plain site due to the high volume of normal chatter, the protocol and traffic is already established as a known protocol to many security systems and antivirus software, and it is highly available across the globe. Twitter is aware of their …

Statistical Methods For Signal Processing With Application To Automatic Accent Recognition, Zichen Ma

Theses

The problem of classification of people based on their phonetic features of accents is posted. This thesis intends to construct an automatic accent recognition machine that can accomplish this classification task with a decent accuracy. The machine consists of two crucial steps, feature extraction and pattern recognition. In the thesis, we review and explore multiple techniques of both steps in great detail. Specifically, in terms of feature extraction, we explore the techniques of principal component analysis and cepstral analysis, and in terms of pattern recognition, we explore the algorithms of discriminant function, support vector machine, and k-nearest neighbors. Since signal …

Exploring Cultural Identity: Learning Culture Through Effective Interactive Design, Augie Park

Theses

Culture defines groups of individuals by language, religion, art, or tools. In today's ever growing sector of computers, smart phones, and tablets, mobile technology is used as a means to discover a sense of individuality through wireless devices and essentially the Internet. This is a case study on how to design a better educational app designed to teach culture through visual exploration and user testing. This thesis also explores how design affects behavior through usability. Through an analysis of interdisciplinary subjects, Exploring Cultural Identity aims to provide a visual prototype to teach culture, specifically focusing on Korean art. The goal …

The Use Of Visual Metaphors In Print Advertisements, Lisa M. Janos

Theses

This study examined advertisements in which metaphorical comparisons were made between cosmetic/beauty products and food. The purpose was to identify what rhetorical themes emerged among the advertisements and to determine if the visuals could provide sufficient content for a marketing message. Twelve images from four companies were chosen. An analysis was performed on each through the application of visual semiotics. Findings indicated that a visual metaphor approach can deliver involved rhetorical marketing messages to the viewer. The theme of indulgence was clear among the ads and the comparison of cosmetics to food suggested that the product should become part of …

Metacognition And Decision-Making Style In Clinical Narratives, Limor Hochberg

Theses

Clinical decision-making has high-stakes outcomes for both physicians and patients, yet little research has attempted to model and automatically annotate such decision-making. The dual process model (Evans, 2008) posits two types of decision-making, which may be ordered on a continuum from intuitive to analytical (Hammond, 1981). Training clinicians to recognize decision-making style and select the most appropriate mode of reasoning for a

particular context may help reduce diagnostic error (Norman, 2009).

This study makes preliminary steps towards detection of decision style, based on an annotated dataset of image-based clinical reasoning in which speech data were collected from physicians as they …

Telicity And The Developmental Acquisition Of The English Present Perfect By L1 Spanish Speakers, Virginia Teran

Theses

The Aspect Hypothesis (Andersen & Shirai, 1994; 1996) proposes that the inherent lexical aspect of verbs plays a major role in the acquisition of tense-aspect (TA) morphology in both first and second language. This has been attested in most studies on TA morphology conducted with past and present TA markers. The present study examined the acquisition of Present Perfect, a rather insufficiently studied TA form from a Prototype Account, in two of its four functions, Experiential Past and Persistent Situation. The subjects were 85 L1-Spanish English language learners at intermediate and advanced levels. All participants had received formal instruction in …

The Use Of Reading Strategies In Arabic By Native And Non-Native Speakers, Fahad Alolayan

Theses

With increasing opportunities to study abroad, learning to read in a foreign language has become increasingly important for countless second language learners. International students in pursuit of higher education degrees are required and expected to read in the target language at the same level of fluency and comprehension as their native-speaking counterparts. The number of international students studying in Arabic higher education institutions has followed the general ascending trend. For these second language speakers of Arabic, good reading skills in Arabic are essential for their academic success. Since the use of reading strategies is an important component of first and …

Saudi L2 Learners' Knowledge And Perceptions Of Academic English Slang, Anood Sarai Albalawi

Theses

This study investigated the extent to which Saudi students were interested in American academic slang terms and expressions. The goal of this study was to examine their knowledge and perceptions of academic slang as L2 learners living in the US. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed. The data were retrieved via an online survey. A written questionnaire was completed by 50 undergraduate SIUC students from Saudi Arabia. The vocabulary task results showed that Saudi L2 learners do not have sufficient knowledge of American academic slang. Saudi students, especially females, revealed a positive attitude towards learning American …

Processing Trauma: Reading Art In 9/11 Novels, Karen Kruse Heinemann

Theses

While the negative effects of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 are still permeating throughout the United States, a few novelists have taken on the extreme task of writing about this historic event. Richard Gray describes the failure of language after the attack took place, yet novelists wanted to write about this tragedy anyway. Reading trauma in 9/11 is inevitable as it is important. In looking at three novels that deal with the events during and the aftermath of 9/11, I hope to consider the way art is used in these texts. In doing so, my thesis will look …

Pollution, Purification, And The Scapegoat: Religion And Violence In The Trial Of Socrates, Philip Brewer

Theses

Despite its wide and unfortunate neglect (if it is even noticed at all), the fact that the date of Socrates' trial coincided with Athens's annual sacrificial festival (Thargelia) is of paramount significance for an interpretation not only of Plato's Apology but also of the historical trial itself. The argument presented here is that Socrates' prosecution and execution was, quite so, an expression of a sacrificial logic, which holds, mistakenly, that a single individual can be held responsible for a social crisis. The sacrificial narrative, then--a narrative implicitly put into play by that ominous trial date--would have located Socrates as the …

A Multivariate Analysis Of The Human Factors And Preferences Towards Digital Publishing Platforms For The Ipad, Anton Ninkov

Theses

Tablet computers have been widely adopted in America today, with 34% of American adults ages 18+ owning this type of digital device (PEW, 2013). With the emergence of new portable computer technology, reading on digital devices has become more popular than ever before. In particular, tablet computers have enabled users to read enhanced e-book material that, while still text-driven, incorporates all facets of multimedia and technology. With many different digital publishing solutions available for publishers to deploy their content, the goal of this research study was to determine whether there are significant differences in user preferences and comprehension for a …

Intelligent Combination Of Structural Analysis Algorithms: Application To Mathematical Expression Recognition, Amit Pillay

Theses

Structural analysis is an important step in many document based recognition problem. Structural analysis is performed to associate elements in a document and assign meaning to their association. Handwritten mathematical expression recognition is one such problem

which has been studied and researched for long. Many techniques have been researched to build a system that produce high performance mathematical expression recognition. We have presented a novel method to combine multiple structural recognition algorithms in

which the combined result shows better performance than each individual recognition algorithms. In our experiment we have applied our method to combine multiple mathematical expression recognition parsers …

Scalable Multi-Document Summarization Using Natural Language Processing, Bhargav Prabhala

Theses

In this age of Internet, Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques are the key sources for providing information required by users. However, with the extensive usage of available data, a secondary level of wrappers that interact with NLP tools have become necessary. These tools must extract a concise summary from the primary data set retrieved. The main reason for using text summarization techniques is to obtain this secondary level of information. Text summarization using NLP techniques is an interesting area of research with various implications for information retrieval.

This report deals with the use of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) for generic …

A Sociophonetic Study Of The Northern Cities Shift In Southwest Michigan, Sara Daniels

Theses

This study was designed to measure the perception of Southwest Michigan residents' perception of the Northern Cities Shift, and compare it to the perceptions of Southeast Michigan residents. Participants, recruited from the Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo areas, were asked to complete a dialect boundary map of the United States in order to discern perceptions of American English dialects and accents and determine the dialect or accent that they most associate with the state of Michigan. Participants were also asked to listen to and judge the personality traits of seven different North American speakers. The results of this study indicate that …