Digital Commons Network^™

Androgyny, Yu-Chi Chien

Theses

Cognition is a mental activity during which information is received through perception and judgment. From birth people gradually construct their own cognitive understanding of the world. Predecessors often transmit their own past experiences to others in order to efficiently build up the values that they think are correct. For constructing cognition easily and rapidly, predecessors tend to generalize and simplify the information so that others can readily understand and judge, but it is often distorted and doesn’t express the full meaning inside.

People have the ability to explore their own answer for everything. However, after the process of simplifying information …

Edge, Zimo Pan

Theses

In the society we live in today, the common saying of “living on the edge” mostly refers to someone who exposes themselves to physical, psychological, environmental or other kinds of dangers in their everyday life. As a result, the person can be under a lot of stress and their mental status sometimes suffers. This thesis, “Edge,” uses seven stages: desire, lost, struggle, noise, balance, life and death, and release, to describe the status when someone is suffering and under stress. This thesis project presents each stage and uses different materials and techniques to create a visual impact for viewers. The …

Manner Of Death And Willingness To Nullify In A Euthanasia Case, Daniel Bell

Theses

Jurors are subject to many biases that hinder their ability to make objective decisions and nullification may occur when the jury believes the law is unfair or immoral. In a case involving euthanasia, a defendant may not be viewed as having committed a crime if it was done out of mercy and a jury may be more likely to choose to nullify as a result. However, nullification can encourage jurors to make decisions based on their attitudes and subjective interpretations of events. One unexplored potential influence on euthanasia attitudes and the decision to nullify may be the manner of death. …

The Evolution Of Fear Ecology: A Fruit Fly (Drosophila Melanogaster) Perspective, Itachi Mills

Theses

Several mechanisms underlie how evolutionary lineages respond to predation pressures or predation risk. Further mechanisms link evolutionary predation responses to how animals forage, or find mates. However, gaps remain in our understanding about how predation and foraging interact in an evolutionary context.

In my first chapter, I elaborate on how predation and foraging relate in to one another in ecological, evolutionary and behavioral contexts. I start out with an overview of fear ecology. Then, I outline how trade-offs influence the evolution of morphological, chemical and behavioral responses to predation. I further elaborate on how these trade-offs influence reproduction. Finally, I …

Student Engagement In College Related Events, Irena Ljubisic

Theses

This qualitative exploratory study looks into motivators of engagement of students in college related events at RIT Croatia’s Dubrovnik campus and how students perceive their sense of belonging to RIT Croatia. Furthermore, this study tries to identify the impact of RIT Croatia’s communication channels on the level of engagement in college related events. The data for this study was gained through conducting in-depth, in person interviews with eight randomly sampled sophomore and junior year students of the International Hospitality and Service Management program, with equal representation of males and females per year level.

The findings of this study indicate that …

The Emotional Impact Of Audio - Visual Stimuli, Titus Pallithottathu Thomas

Theses

Induced affect is the emotional effect of an object on an individual. It can be quantified through two metrics: valence and arousal. Valance quantifies how positive or negative something is, while arousal quantifies the intensity from calm to exciting. These metrics enable researchers to study how people opine on various topics. Affective content analysis of visual media is a challenging problem due to differences in perceived reactions. Industry standard machine learning classifiers such as Support Vector Machines can be used to help determine user affect. The best affect-annotated video datasets are often analyzed by feeding large amounts of visual and …

Aligning Business Decision Making To Strategy, Donald J. Barnes, Katherine A. Dominguez, Whitney J. Vazquez

Theses

"Hurry up and wait" is a recipe for inefficiency. Some product development projects start and stop and start again, with team members being added and removed throughout the process. The cost of this lurching does not appear to be well quantified. Moving technical talent from one project to another may assume 100% engineering efficiency, which is not the case. Hidden effects of engineers being moved include having to "spin up" on the new project and learn where the last team members left off (which may not be well documented), repeating initial work, and lowered efficiency and morale on the part …

The Use Of Social Media As A Marketing Tool In Kosovo: Current Trends And Opportunities, Robert Ejupi

Theses

The purpose of this Honors project paper is to explore the current trends of social media marketing in Kosovo. More specifically, the study aims at determining what the most used social media outlets are, what viewpoints do representatives of various companies have on the credibility of social media as a marketing channel and whether they measure the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. Furthermore, the study’s aim is to explore the other side of the picture; how responsive are customers to marketing campaigns perpetrated in social media and how is their purchasing behavior influenced by these campaigns. The research methodology …

The Influence Of Ethnocentrism In Food Neophobic Students, Ana Carolina Jurza Rios

Theses

Economic and social changes occurring after Croatia´s entrance to European Union require a more intense research on consumers´ openness to a new and globalized market. A concept known as Consumer Ethnocentrism, when consumers prefer buying domestic rather than foreign products because is detrimental to national economy, is strongly present in post-war markets in the West Balkans. Another phenomenon related to peoples´ fear of trying new or unknown food, called Food Neophobia, has been under study in America and in some European countries. Despite the long list of articles focusing their attention on Consumer Ethnocentrism in the Balkans, none research has …

Parents’ Perspectives: How They Use Behavior Modification Techniques With Toddlers Aged 1-3, Diana H. Solt

Theses

Role-models, most often parents, are vital in the process of teaching children how to communicate and resolve conflicts. Children, specifically toddlers just learning to speak, may present unique disciplining challenges. This study examined the various methods of conflict management strategies parents use to try and change their toddler children’s behaviors. The main parental strategies studied include: verbal, imitative, physical, and no-action. Using a snowball sampling approach, 28 men and women participants were interviewed. The findings show that parents most often used verbal or imitative techniques to discipline their children. However an overwhelming majority agreed that verbal techniques do not work …

On Increasing Trust Between Developers And Automated Refactoring Tools Through Visualization, Alexander Bogart

Theses

In software development, maintaining good design is essential. The process of refactoring enables developers to improve this design during development without altering the program’s existing behavior. However, this process can be time-consuming, introduce semantic errors, and be difficult for developers inexperienced with refactoring or unfamiliar with a given code base. Automated refactoring tools can help not only by applying these changes, but by identifying opportunities for refactoring. Yet, developers have not been quick to adopt these tools due to a lack of trust between the developer and the tool. We propose an approach in the form of a visualization to …

The Real Face Of Arabic Symbols, Leena Yahya Sonbuol

Theses

This is a brief insight into my thesis: "The Real Face of Arabic Symbols". I have examined in depth the artwork I completed for my Masters of Fine Arts degree at Rochester Institute of Technology, the work for which was exhibited in the Bevier Gallery for two weeks during March 2017.

The aim of this study is to explore differences in symbolic language between the Eastern and Western cultures in visual arts and explain the misconception of Arabic symbols in the western world. It examines Arabic cultural symbols in contemporary art, and the creation of a symbolic language for a …

Welcome Home Rochester: Guiding Refugees Through Life In America, Michael Kelly

Theses

Rochester, NY is the third-largest city in New York State, situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, with a population of 210,565. Rochester is also the third largest city—after Buffalo and Syracuse—in terms of refugee resettlement. In 2016, US government resettlement and secondary migration brought 850 new refugees here. In 2017, that number is expected to pass 1,000., When refugees are resettled in the United States, the first three months of casework and assistance are provided by a federally-funded resettlement organization. After these months, however, refugees are removed from the resettlement service’s caseload. In Rochester, it is at this …

Flux Guard: An Exploration Of Situational Rigidity, Nicholas Miclette

Theses

In 2014 there was an estimated 15 million snowboarders worldwide. Like many extreme sports there is always the possibility of injury. Extensive research has shown snowboarders sustain more wrist injuries than any other sport in the world. In particular beginner or novice snowboarders are the most susceptible to injury and often times wear no protective gear when first learning. Although there has been research into the efficacy of upper extremity protection in snowboarding, a universal standard has yet to be developed to judge current wrist protection. Due to this fact my thesis explores innovative ways to reinvent the wrist guard …

Validation Of A Method To Estimate Skin Spectral Reflectance Using A Digital Camera., Christopher Thorstenson

Theses

The accurate measurement of skin color and skin spectral reflectance is becoming increasingly desirable due to its application across several domains, including medical, cosmetics, graphic arts, automation, and social science fields. While there exist robust ways to accurately measure color and spectral reflectance, these methods typically require the use of specialized instruments which are often expensive, invasive, and require expert training. Therefore, it would clearly be advantageous to develop methods that can extract accurate colorimetric and spectral data from readily-available, inexpensive digital RGB cameras. Such methodology involves overcoming several fundamental obstacles due to the limitations of RGB camera data.

The …

Examining The New York State Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative’S Alignment With Several Theoretical Perspectives, Jamie Dougherty

Theses

This research examines how well New York State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative aligns with four theoretical domains: subculture of violence, deterrence, rational choice/situational crime prevention, and implementation theories. It reviews how procedural justice and community integration align with these theories and the evidence-based strategies that GIVE sites implement. Sites are grouped for analysis, and their characteristics are described. The literature review describes each theoretical domain’s core principles as they pertain to GIVE. It shows that the theories can be compatible and that their integration is difficult but would likely make the initiative more effective. The primary research questions …

The Development And Validation Of A Resource Kit For Use By Ngos Pertaining To The Inclusion Of People With Disabilities In Sport-Based Programmes In Developing Countries, Koffi Atitso Fiati

Theses

The current study is undertaken in relation to the recommendations of both Article 30 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities-UNCRPD, (UN, 2006) and the new Charter on Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport (UNESCO, 2015) to serve as a building block in the improvement of the health of people with disabilities (PWDs).

The study adopted a three-phase sequential mixed method approach with a participatory action research orientation. There was a document analysis, a survey, and interviews. The first phase comprised an analysis of four documents labelled as inclusive sport and physical activities resource kits. …

Synapps: Children’S Asd Management Through A Mobile Application And An Interactive Biofeedback Exercise, Elizabeth Richardson

Theses

This thesis explores how to provide better access to alternative treatment options through an immersive biofeedback exercise and mobile application for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This thesis also seeks to connect children with ASD to medical professionals and treatment facilities.

This is done through a motion graphics piece depicting an abdominal breathing exercise and correlating mobile application. Users participate in biofeedback exercises in which their real-time biofeedback is monitored, transmitted to the mobile application, and reflected to the user. The mobile application analyzes and identifies physiological signals and detects what feedback is most useful to help the individual …

Tech Mds: Improving User Experience Of Electronic Health Record System, Rootwa Sagar

Theses

Electronic Healthcare record keeping can be daunting. The available software does not usually allow for clinicians to input information concordant with their clinical work- ow. This disrupts the clinician-patient encounter and can lead to frustration for both clinicians and patients. Because of this, the organic interaction between the patient and the clinician is not accurately recorded with available EHR systems. For example, the idiosyncrasies of individual patients—how and why they present certain information—as well as the clinician’s response can be signi cant but are ignored by the demands of EHR data entry. Patient

or person-centered care is increasingly recognized as …

Influence Of Media On Self-Objectification, Body Image, And Rape Myths Acceptance Among College Students, Catarina Durante Bergue Alves

Theses

This study is an investigation of how exposure to different media content influences self-objectification, body image, and rape myths acceptance (RMA) in female college students. The purpose of this study was to further explore the effects of immediate media exposure on body image, self-objectification, and RMA, as well as address the gap in the literature regarding the relationship between these variables (Dakanalis et al., 2015; Fox et al., 2015). One hundred and one students that identified as female were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions using a partially blind design. The students watched a short video pertaining to the condition …

Effects On Muscular Strength And Muscular Power While Using Weighted-Chains During A 4-Week Bench Press Resistance-Training Program, Richard Stecker

Theses

This study investigates the effects of weighted chains on muscular strength and power during a four-week bench press resistance-training program in recreationally trained college-aged men. The research addresses a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of chain-loaded resistance as a method to enhance upper body performance, particularly in the bench press. Thirty healthy males aged 18–40 with a minimum of two years of training experience were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a weighted-chains group (60% 1RM: 40% bar weight, 20% chain), a top-weight-matched group (60% 1RM with no chains), and a bottom-weight-matched group (40% 1RM with no …

Effect Of Long-Term Beta-Alanine Supplementation On Performance In Male Collegiate Rugby Athletes, Charles Smith

Theses

This study investigated the effects of six weeks of beta-alanine (BA) supplementation on the anaerobic performance of collegiate male rugby players. Beta-alanine is a precursor to carnosine, an intramuscular buffer that helps maintain pH during high-intensity exercise. Rugby is a sport characterized by repeated bouts of high-intensity efforts, making it a prime candidate to benefit from improved buffering capacity.

Twenty-one male rugby players were recruited for the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, with 16 completing the post-testing. Participants were randomly assigned to either a beta-alanine group (6.4 g/day) or a placebo group (6.4 g/day of maltodextrin). Both groups continued their normal team …

I Directed Macbeth, And So Can You, Jason Flannery

Theses

Designed in the second year of my graduate studies, and rehearsed and performed in the autumn of my third, Macbeth served as my thesis production at Lindenwood University. In this paper, I will address the details of how the production came to light, my approach to developing the performance, what was learned throughout the nearly year-long endeavor, and how those lessons have shaped my relationship with the art of storytelling.

Neoliberal Environmentalism In The War On Poverty: A Case Study Of Carbondale, Illinois, Gregory Matthew Carter

Theses

The following thesis examines the city of Carbondale, Illinois, during the tumultuous years between 1965 and 1975. Carbondale was the recipient of large amounts of funding from the Model Cities program, part of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. During that time, Carbondale experienced violent anti-war protests and community-wide unrest. At the same time as Model Cities projects began, the modern environmentalism movement surrounding the first observance of Earth Day, April 22, 1970, also occurred. Within four years, environmental groups comprised mostly of white citizens were pitted against African-American community activists working to improve Carbondale’s segregated Northeast neighborhood and the …

Alphabot: Using Interaction Design To Help Children With Reading Disabilities Through A Multi-Sensory Approach, Chao Luo

Theses

A reading disability is one form of learning difficulty, caused by neurological factors. Young children with reading disabilities are recognized as having trouble with spelling, reading, writing, and other academic activities. Even though there is no cure for reading disabilities so far, there are many things we can do to help these children. For young children, the best way to help them learn is taking advantage of all their senses.

Multimedia has been widely used in education today. Designers use various formats of digital multimedia to enhance user’s experience in learning. It provides an excellent opportunity to help children with …

The Adoption Of Project Based Learning In Graphic Communication Programs, Aezzaddin Aisyah Zainuddin

Theses

Project Based Learning (PBL) is widely recognized as an effective teaching method when compared to traditional lecture-based approaches in the classroom. Recognizing that the graphic communications industry needs employees with requisite skill sets and the established efficacy of PBL as a pedagogical technique for teaching those skills, the researcher examined the implementation of PBL in post-secondary institutions serving the graphic communications industry.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to solicit information from educators in graphic communications programs in the United States. The questionnaire was designed to examine the factors which comprise PBL utilized in the classroom. PBL factors were derived from …

The Power Of After-Hours: Young Adult Engagement And Programming In Museums, Hannah E. Barber

Theses

This project explores the cultivation of an ever deepening relationship between young adult audiences (ages 21-40) and museums and cultural institutions through the use of special event programming. Museums are turning to after-hours events to capture this audience’s attention, developing them as a mode of communication to solidify connections between the institution and young adults. Drawing on Ray Oldenburg’s construct of a “Third Place,” developed in his psychological study focused on the comfort of individuals in physical spaces, I investigate how several museums in the Rochester, New York, area are pursuing young adult audiences by creating social and engaging spaces …

Hegemonic Masculinity And Transphobia, Marilyn Chung

Theses

Transphobia research has focused on predictors and correlations of prejudice toward transgender people. Consistently, male participants have higher transphobic attitudes compared to female participants in various studies. Further, males are overrepresented in crimes against transgender people. However, these studies were correlational and causation cannot be determined. Masculinity researchers outside of psychology have discussed maintenance of masculine privilege as a motivator for oppressive beliefs and actions. Thus, the goal of this study was to provide an experimental study of causes for increased transphobic attitudes in men, based on sociological and gender studies’ research on hegemonic masculinity. To test this, participants were …

Taking Up One's Cross With Hope: A Christian Approach To Suffering, Linda George Debrecht

Theses

The purpose of this study is to encourage a more contemporary understanding of the traditional Christian approach to suffering — the belief that we can experience great goodness and enrich our lives as a result of taking up our cross as Jesus did. This concept of "redemptive suffering" seems to be losing its viability in contemporary life. Instead, advancing support for the Assisted Suicide movement reflects a growing sense that suffering is a "problem" that can be "solved" even if it means taking one's own life. The author contends that a more contemporary understanding of Jesus' suffering — one that …

Development, Implementation And Pre-Clinical Evaluation Of Medical Image Computing Tools In Support Of Computer-Aided Diagnosis: Respiratory, Orthopedic And Cardiac Applications, Yehuda K. Ben-Zikri

Theses

Over the last decade, image processing tools have become crucial components of all clinical and research efforts involving medical imaging and associated applications. The imaging data available to the radiologists continue to increase their workload, raising the need for efficient identification and visualization of the required image data necessary for clinical assessment.

Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) in medical imaging has evolved in response to the need for techniques that can assist the radiologists to increase throughput while reducing human error and bias without compromising the outcome of the screening, diagnosis or disease assessment. More intelligent, but simple, consistent and less time-consuming …