Digital Commons Network^™

Ontology Management For Universities, Roland Böving

Theses

What is the 'knowledge' of a university? It is the sum of all experiences and all contributions of students and staff. Knowledge ultimately exists, among other things, in the form of theses, articles, lectures and research reports. The largest knowledge pool of a university is made up, however, of the knowledge and expertise of every single member of the university. As a result of the high rate of turnover of people, knowledge and expertise are on the one hand constantly being lost, but this is replaced by a fresh intake of upcoming young students and lecturers reflecting the spirit of …

India, An Asian Giant: A Compass For The Future, Norelene Pushpangadan

Theses

In the 65 years since India formalised its' independence from the British Empire the country has experienced an immense metamorphosis in all aspects of its economy. This current study is an analysis of what the possible future economic prospects are for India. As part of the research process, the researcher delved into the history of the economy, since its independence from British colonial power, to modern day focusing on particular aspects of the economy which were relevant to fulfilling the research question of; where does the economic future lie for India?

The current global economic crisis has in part been …

The Influence Of Worry On Ratings Of Visual Pain Stimuli, David D. Stephenson

Theses

No abstract provided.

Priorities For Kosovo's Cultural-Artistic Associations, Including Minority Groups : Development Challenges Of Cultural Sector For Minority Groups And Direction For Encouraging Of Improving Their Work, Subsidies And Needs--Financing The Arts & Cutlure [Presentation Given On February 29, 2012]:, Esin Sisko

Theses

This capstone project explored the direction and measures needed for solving the problem of the sustainable development of Cultural Artistic Associations1 (CAAs) in Kosovo. It gives particular emphasis to the ethnic minority groups. Safeguarding, promotion and maintenance of cultural diversity as a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage2 (ICH) are an essential condition for the sustainable development of Kosovo. These are for the benefit of the present and future generations and for a tolerant society, but at present insufficient resources are provided. There are three main stages of research in this Capstone Project. (1) The first stage was a collection …

Defationary Truth And Truth-Aptness Illuminated By Language And Norms: Paul Horwich, Huw Price, And Michael Lynch, Jeff Young

Theses

In contemporary epistemology there is a movement toward deflationary understandings of core philosophical concepts. Prominent among these is the concept of truth. This thesis examines contemporary deflationary theories of truth, such as those of Paul Horwich and Huw Price. I argue that while Horwich’s canonical deflationary approach is by itself insufficient as a complete theory of truth, Price’s minimal, pragmatic, theory of truth points toward a combination that is prima facie satisfactory. Once this new approach has been established, I will use Michael Lynch’s recent functionalist theory of truth to examine the questions of what we want from a theory …

A Biomechanical Assessment Of Early And Late Sign Language Learners: Impact On Work Style And Musculoskeletal Disorder Risk, Abigail Donner

Theses

American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters are a vital resource both for people who are deaf and people who are hearing. Interpreters face a combination of high cognitive and high physical demands while interpreting, placing them at an increased risk for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and burnout. Research has shown that individual differences exist in signing style, causing some interpreters to have a less physically demanding signing style than others. Anecdotal evidence suggests that interpreters who start signing at a young age may have a decreased likelihood for developing upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders due to the possible acquisition of a technique …

Mechanics Of Interaction, Ryota Takemura

Theses

My work focuses on the senses that we take for granted when we experience art. We often disregard how our bodies work in relation to living our daily lives. In my piece, the Mechanics of Interaction, I highlight the experience of intertwined senses, in particular sight, touch, and sound. My thesis sculpture, the Mechanics of Interaction, is based on an attempt to avoid a purely visual experience of art. I try to redirect the audience away from the hierarchy of senses where sight is privileged. Many artworks tend to accentuate the combination of vision and thought as an "expression." Sight …

Differences In Aggression As A Relationship Between Sex And Levels Of Video Game Playing, Kunal Puri

Theses

Video games have grown into a multibillion-dollar industry over the past 40 years. A number of studies have been carried out to explain the relationship between playing video games and the different levels of aggression it generates. This pilot study examines the differences in aggression present in males and females following video game playing. The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between the amount of time spent playing video games and the type of video games played by both males and females with the amount of aggression it stimulates across different sex. The study uses theories like …

Puffery, Whitney Warne

Theses

The external body is a place to perform a version of ourselves, rather than be ourselves. To perform is to strike a balance between the self and the rules, between individual action and gesture and the script--between what you know and what other people tell you to know. Puffery explores the culturally constructed performance and expected behaviors of the modern female. I have created video and photography documented durational performances that question a female's relationship with exterior presentation. Viewers watch as she exposes her façade--examining it and breaking it down in an effort to negotiate self, power, and control.

Tractatus, Rodrigo Gonzalo Encinar

Theses

Tractatus is an act of criticism concerned with the current matters of economy, war and home. The work visually investigates through a range of interdisciplinary projects issues related to the nature of the photographic medium and the functioning of the capitalist system. Tractatus uses systematic methodologies embedded in Conceptualism that focus on a more complex, more politicized and more critical understanding of photographs, interrogating the documentary use of the camera.

Immanent Beauty, Jenamarie Bacot

Theses

This document defends a creative process that is driven by emotion and faith, within which the impulsive, improvisational, and expressive act exists. It is a spiritual act because of the belief that I am creating through the work something honest and therefore important. This defense will be supported by analysis of me and my work, evaluation of artists and artwork created throughout history that have inspired me, as well as philosophical, theological, and critical thoughts towards creative experiences inspired by beauty defending truth.

Myths, Emily Zeller

Theses

In this thesis I address a personal relationship with nature, femininity, and coming-of-age in a patriarchal family through videos that rely on a synthesized definition of myth to create multi-layered meaning with roots in the greater feminine discourse. I create my own unique interpretation of myth by combining elements of traditional Greek mythology, semiotic mythology, and the art and poems centered around the myth of the female experience. Imbuing my videos with this mythic quality allows the objects and actions depicted to transcend their signifiers, birthing multi-layered meaning and encouraging a closer examination and personal connection with the viewer. My …

Culturally Sensitive Document Design For An Eastern Asia Audience: Comprehension And Preference, Merridith Smith

Theses

An investigation into Eastern Asia audiences in China, Japan, and Korea determined how intercultural communication affects non-native readers' comprehension and perception of a document design. The study, an after-only experiment, used a small-sized sample from people who were In-Country Reviewers (ICRs) and knew of medical products in Eastern Asia and had knowledge in the area's local language. The subjects read an indigenously or non-indigenously designed document, and self-reported their comprehension and preferences for formatting style. Although the statistics showed no significant difference between the groups, on any variable tested (language, comprehension, and format), the qualitative data that were gathered can …

Opening Doors Or Creating Barriers?: The Influence Of Interpreters On Levels Of Communication Apprehension Among Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Students, Jenna Williams

Theses

Classroom communication apprehension (CA) affects roughly 70% of undergraduate college students (Bowers, 1986, p. 373). After a discussion of CA as a theory, a survey tool is presented to measure if there is a difference in the amount and type of CA experienced by deaf and hard-of-hearing college students when compared to their hearing peers. The survey includes McCroskey's PRCA-24 tool for measuring CA and several additional questions on how the presence of a sign language interpreter influences levels of classroom CA. The survey's 155 respondents report a statistically significant difference in the amount and type of CA experienced. Limitations …

Remembering You: Effects Of Gender Identity And Narrative Recall Mode On Autobiographical Narratives, Annette C. Resenhoeft

Theses

No abstract provided.

Intimate Immensity, Henrik Søderstrøm

Theses

The small house that comprises my visual thesis, made of simple materials reclaimed from junk piles and old houses, was made as worship to the God who spoke the world into existence. This writing is a playful counterpart to my artwork. Water has an amazing ability to transpose itself fluidly across borders, from the atmosphere to the ground to the cells in your body. Its movement is defiant of divisions as it carries nutrients through layers of compost, from rotting biomass to new sprouts. My process of absorbing and using materials is inspired by this cycling. I am interested in …

Framing Health Care Across The Pond: A Comparative Content Analysis Of Elite Newspapers In The Us And Uk During The 2009 American Health Policy Debate, Jackson Bales Foote

Theses

This study analyzes content from eight leading newspapers in the United States and United Kingdom during ten months of the 2009 American health care policy debate, identifying emergent issue-specific health care frames that manifest themselves in key framing devices, like metaphors, exemplars, catchphrases, and depictions. This exploratory, quantitive frame analysis is conducted in a cross-cultural context to facilitate generalizable comparisons about how the news media in different countries frame social welfare policy through symbolic and rhetorical elements. A principal component analysis is used to reduce the health care-specific variables into four frames: access, choice, rising costs, and market competition. The …

" Friends Abroad: Transnational Cooperation And Women's Organizations In Early Twentieth Century Chile.", Julie M. Porterfield

Theses

No abstract provided.

Discovering Determinacy In Shandy: A Readerly And Writerly Goose Chase, Michael R. Pauloski

Theses

No abstract provided.

Dialogical Narrative Amd The Struggle For Vehicle Consciousness In D.H Lawrence's Women In Love, Alyssa Robinson

Theses

No abstract provided.

Using Tasks Effectively To Teach Chinese As A Foreign Language To College Students In The U.S.A., Shengjie Lu

Theses

No abstract provided.

Text Detection In Natural Scenes Through Weighted Majority Voting Of Dct High Pass Filters, Line Removal, And Color Consistency Filtering, Dave Snyder

Theses

Detecting text in images presents the unique challenge of finding both in-scene and superimposed text of various sizes, fonts, colors, and textures in complex backgrounds. The goal of this system is not to recognize specific letters or words but only to determine if a pixel is text or not. This pixel level decision is made by applying a set of weighted classifiers created using a set of high pass filters, and a series of image processing techniques. It is our assertion that the learned weighted combination of frequency filters in conjunction with image processing techniques may show better pixel level …

Features Of Effective Educational Leadership From The Perspectives Of Teachers., Aysha Saeed Rashed Saeed Al Nuaimi

Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the important characteristics and features influencing effective educational leadership from the perspectives of teachers. There were six main features that were investigated in this study. These are: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart, and have a global mind set. The study was guided by one research question. Data for this study were collected through a survey questionnaire. It contains 36 close ended-questions and one open-ended question. The instrument rated responses on a five level Likert Scale questionnaire which is rated from …

The Effectiveness Of Using Ict To Enhance The Efl Speaking Skill, Amin Mefreh Amin Elkhayyat

Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of ICT on the EFL speaking skill and its specific components: (I) verbal linguistic, (2) auditory paralinguistic, (3) visual nonverbal paralinguistic. In addition, the study investigated the effects of employing ICT tools on students' motivation. The design of this study was a quasi-experimental design, i.e. pre-post control group design. Thirty-nine male students, from grade eight, of two intact classes at one of the schools in Al-Ain, UAE, participated in this study. The experimental group received learning and teaching of the speaking skill through employing ICT tools, the independent variable, whereas …

The Effects Of A Guided Program On Improving Fourth Grade English Reading Comprehension Skills In The Uae., Mohammed Kamil Salhyyah

Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of implementing a guided reading program for promoting reading comprehension skills of grade four pupils in the UAE. This program was based on intensive practice of the targeted skills followed by a gradual release of teacher’s role to have more pupils’ independence while reading. The participants of this study were sixty pupils in grade four who were divided into a control group and a treatment group. Data were collected and analyzed using the results of both the pretest and posttest. The treatment was implementing a guided reading program which lasted …

A History Of Weinbau In The Lower Missouri Valley: From Dutzow To Hermann, Missouri, Todd J. Brown

Theses

The thesis presented is a history focusing on the rise of German immigration, wine growing and production or Weinbau, in the lower Missouri valley from Dutzow, Missouri to Hermann, Missouri, and the connection between the nineteenth century Missouri Germans and the rise of the Missouri wine industry.

History Of The Observatory As An Institution: From Maragha To Mount Wilson, Rihab Sawah

Theses

The astronomical observatory has existed since ancient times and has served a number of public causes—religious, astrological, practical, and, more recently, scientific. In this thesis, I show how the observatory underwent three major transitions, beginning with its “institutionalization” in the thirteenth century, with the founding of the Maragha Observatory. I discuss how the Maragha observatory (located in the northwestern part of Persia) became a model for future observatories, including the Mount Wilson Observatory. The Maragha Observatory produced a revolutionary school of thought known as the “Maragha School.” This school marked a sharp departure from Ptolemaic Greek astronomy. I argue that …

Talking Back And Getting Smart: Action Research In A Primarily African American First Year Composition Class Learning The Skills For Research, Natasha Denise Moore

Theses

This action research is a study of teacher, student, race, and pedagogy as an answer to the challenge posed to me from Lisa Delpit, Gary Howard and bell hooks. They believe that there should be more studies that look at what really goes on in multicultural classrooms in order to get a better understanding of how race and student engagement intersects with pedagogy. Like them, I am very concerned about these intersections, specifically in the composition classroom and specifically for the task of looking at how race and student engagement affect students' ability to actively interact with text. This action …

Mourning, Melancholia, And The Possibility Of Transformation: Comparing Julia Kristeva's Black Sun And Judith Butler's The Psychic Life Of Power, Kristina Marie Darling

Theses

In this paper I compare Julia Kristeva's Black Sun and Judith Butler's The Psychic Life of Power, focusing on their treatment of melancholia. The two works prove similar as they appropriate this Freudian concept for feminist ends, suggesting that the mourning, loss, and personal renewal associated with melancholia afford unique opportunities for self-discovery. With that said, the two philosophers present fundamentally different assessments of melancholia as it relates to cultural discourses. Throughout Black Sun, Kristeva suggests that the process of articulating personal loss—whether through psychoanalysis, art, or literature—allows the individual to re-imagine his or her perceived identity. Kristeva envisions this …

The Effects Of Culturally Sensitive Education In Driving South Asian Indian Immigrant Women Towards Mammography Screening In New Jersey, Elise Elizabeth Kumar

Theses

Background & Purpose of the Study: Breast Cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer, and is becoming a major public health issue concern for many South Asian Indian immigrant women. However, women of ethnic subgroups and those who immigrated to the United States within the last ten years are less likely to have had a recent mammogram. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a culturally sensitive breast cancer educational intervention on breast cancer knowledge, perception of cancer fatalism, and improved participation in mammography screening among South Asian Indian immigrant women. Methods: Utilizing a quasi -experimental pretest/post …