Digital Commons Network^™

Teen Empowerment’S Youth/Police Dialogues: The Bridge To Improving Police And Youth Relations, Pamela S. Flemming

Theses

Negative youth-police relations are an issue that has plagued the Rochester, NY community for decades. Teen Empowerment is committed to helping change the relational negativity, and build positive partnerships between these two groups. The organization believes that youth-police dialogues are the bridge to improving youth-police relations, which will in turn build stronger communities. The information in this thesis tests whether youth-police dialogues are essential to improving the youth-police relationship. The Methodology for my evaluation included a pre and post survey for Teen Empowerment’s youth organizers and participating police officers. Surveys were completed for the Phase I and Phase II dialogue …

Exploring Negative Sexual Experiences, Attitudes, And Behaviors By Auditory Status, Taylor Victoria Vogt

Theses

Sexual assault is a significant problem on college campuses across the United States and an extensive amount of research has been conducted to address the issue. However, only a limited number of empirical studies have examined sexual victimization among the Deaf and hard of hearing population. Using a survey instrument with a sample of Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students (n = 3,970) at the Rochester Institute of Technology, this study examined the associations between auditory status, prior sexual victimization, rape myths and behaviors. The results showed that Deaf and hard of hearing students are more likely to experience …

Design Of Neuromemristive Systems For Visual Information Processing, Cory E. Merkel

Theses

Neuromemristive systems (NMSs) are brain-inspired, adaptive computer architectures based on emerging resistive memory technology (memristors). NMSs adopt a mixed-signal design approach with closely-coupled memory and processing, resulting in high area and energy efficiencies. Previous work suggests that NMSs could even supplant conventional architectures in niche application domains such as visual information processing. However, given the infancy of the field, there are still several obstacles impeding the transition of these systems from theory to practice. This dissertation advances the state of NMS research by addressing open design problems spanning circuit, architecture, and system levels. Novel synapse, neuron, and plasticity circuits are …

Predicting Subjective Well-Being Using Social Support And Mindfulness For United Arab Emirates University Students, Sarah El Nabulsi

Theses

This thesis is concerned with assessing the psychological well-being of the United Arab Emirates University students’ community and predicting the integral factors that significantly contribute to it. Existing studies have explored pathologies such as depression and anxiety in an attempt to deduce knowledge indispensable to clinical interventions. This study deals with what the individuals with high psychological well-being are doing well and takes this knowledge to inform clinical interventions. In this context, it is noteworthy to argue that this thesis is one of the pioneering studies involving a predominantly local population, which allows for more successful and more culturally sensitive …

The Role Of Situation Awareness Metrics In The Assessment Of Indoor Orientation Assistive Technologies That Aid Blind Individuals In Unfamiliar Indoor Environments, Abdulrhman A. Alkhanifer

Theses

The importance of raising user's situation awareness has proven to be an important factor in the successful use of systems that involve mission-critical tasks. Indoor Orientation Assistive Technology (OAT) that supports blind individuals is one of the systems that needs to be oriented to support user's situation awareness. In the tasks involved in this system, blind individuals try to maintain their spatial understanding of the environment. The current evaluation methods of Orientation Assistive Technology that aids blind travelers within indoor environments rely on the performance metrics. When enhancing such systems, evaluators conduct qualitative studies to learn where to focus their …

Communicating Vaccination Information On Facebook Utilizing The Health Belief Model, Lindsay Case

Theses

The 2014 Disney measles outbreak brought the issue of vaccinations to the forefront of health communication across all mediums, including social media sites. While the US is considered to have one of the more successful vaccination rates globally, there remain supporters of an anti-vaccination movement and regions of the country with alarming rates of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. This content analysis study of Facebook first identified the current trend of more activity amongst those who do not support the use of vaccines than those supporting vaccines. The user generated content was also evaluated for the use of …

Two Blocks From Heaven, David M. Tan

Theses

Two Blocks From Heaven is a story set in the realm of human trafficking. The story follows Chen, a young Chinese prostitute in an illegal brothel above a Chinese restaurant nearby a church in the middle of an unspecified American city. Jaded, abused, and weary of this life she’s been forced to live, she takes on a deal to train the new girl, Mei, in exchange for her own freedom. Upon Mei’s arrival and befriending, Chen is faced with a choice: earn her freedom at the cost of Mei ending up like her or risk their safety by running away. …

Luv: To The One Beloved, Zimo Pan

Theses

Love; which is something that everyone pursues for in life, and technology; which is something that we uses everyday in life, and with both combine there is the Luv, a perfect way to express the love using technology on daily life. Luv consisted of the three main elements of love, including passion, intimacy and commitment. Not only can the user of Lux expresses their love with their partner but one can achieve self-pleasure with Luv. This was never seemed before in the combination of technology and love. Thus it would be the first in history where women can finally wear …

Experiential Metaphors: Create Anti-Negative Home Products, Hong Ying Guo

Theses

Experiential metaphor is a user-centered design approach and methodology that I developed for my thesis project. This approach can be applied to a design to influence a user's perception or design process to facilitate the designer's concept ideation. The intention of this approach is to create a pleasurable product experience and a positive emotional response through interaction with the product and interpretation of its meaning. Grounded in meaning association, which is correlated with non-linguistic cognitive metaphor and human emotional models, four different levels of experiential metaphor are formed by the synthesis of the metaphor structure and levels of emotional elicitation. …

Effect Of Endplate On The Blast Wave Profile In A Compressed Gas Shock Tube, Sudeepto Kahali

Theses

Blast related brain injuries are commonly encountered in the recent wars of Iraq and Afghanistan increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). An estimated 20% of veterans returning from these operations have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The mechanisms and long-term effects of the injury are not fully understood, and extensive research effort is being focused toward identifying the mechanisms of primary blast injury. When a pure shock-blast wave encounters a subject, in the absence of shrapnel, casing or gaseous products, the loading is termed as primary blast loading, and its effects can be studied using shock tubes.

The wave …

Evaluative Measures: Assessing The Effectiveness Of Exhibits And Programs In Zoos, Drew Johnson

Theses

This thesis examines program and exhibition evaluation as pertaining to zoos and aquariums in the United States from the 1960’s to the present. Research conducted for this thesis focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of zoological programs and exhibitions. Also examined are studies of zoo and aquarium visitors related to audience research, informal learning, and psychographics. Case studies as well as published procedural and evaluative methods from zoos and aquariums across the United States are used to identify best practices. In addition, two evaluation tool kits are presented to assist the Seneca Park Zoo with evaluative measures for exhibits …

Use Of Experts' Gaze By Novice Usability Practitioners To Perform A Better Heuristic Evaluation, Sree Anirudh J. Bhandaram

Theses

Proficiency in conducting heuristic evaluations does not come easily; it is an acquired skill that takes years to master. It is often difficult to convey an effective evaluation strategy through a verbal approach. While communicating verbally, people may prompt to where they focus their attention, but this is often difficult to convey. Through an eye tracking study, the relationship between an expert’s gaze while performing a task and a novice’s learning to better perform a heuristic evaluation will be explored. Novices concentrate on basic, but irrelevant parts of a task while processing complex stimuli whereas experts process stimuli quicker while …

(Re)Connecting With Listeners: How Radio Stations Are Reaching Beyond The Dial (And Their Competitors) To Connect With Their Audience, Alyxandra Sherwood

Theses

Radio has a history of adapting to new technologies to spread its signal farther and more efficiently to a larger audience. With the emergence of social media, the audience has begun to use non-traditional media channels to reach back and out to each other, thus by-passing traditional media outlets such as radio. Prior studies examined how the audience has shifted its daily routine to incorporate new technology. The present study sought to determine to what extent radio stations in New York State have adapted to use non-traditional media channels, how often they update those channels, and if revenue type had …

A Cognitive Theory-Based Approach For The Evaluation And Enhancement Of Internet Security Awareness Among Children Aged 3-12 Years, Asma Eidhah M. Aloufi

Theses

In the age of technology, the Internet has spread widely and used for multiple purposes by users of all ages, especially children who start using it frequently to play in their spare time. With the use of the Internet, children must have a sufficient security awareness to avoid security risks found online. This study takes us through the journey of evaluating and enhancing the level of the Internet security awareness among a group of Saudi children aged 3-12 years. The developed evaluation survey shows that there is some awareness among the Saudi Children; however, they still need more concrete ways …

A Study To Assess The Efficacy Of Implementing An In-Season Psychological Skills Training Program With Elite Level Cyclists, Christopher L. Curan

Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of developing and implementing an in-season Psychological Skills Training (PST) program to increase performance, mood state, and self-efficacy mental skills for elite cyclists. Additionally, the goal of the study was to develop a success profile for elite cyclists after completing a PST program. A collegiate cycling team formed the treatment group (N=25), who received a 12-week in-season PST program, and a similar demographical control group (N=28) received no mental skills training. Sports psychology instruments using pre- and posttest included the Sports Emotional Reaction Profile (SERP), Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ASCI-28). …

Exploring Veterans' Experiences In Engl-101 At Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, John Edward Gund

Theses

In recent years, an increasing number of military veterans have enrolled in higher education. Little research has been conducted on veterans in tandem with higher education, but what does exist shows that they are a unique student population because of their military background. In the last few years, scholarship has called for research on veterans in classroom environments. Moreover, composition scholars in particular have called for research on veterans and writing. Although veterans have been recognized as a unique student population, little research has been conducted on what pedagogical practices can be used to help them as they become students. …

Thedor Kullak's "Scenes From Childhood," Op. 62, And Op. 81: A Pedagogical Guide, Jennifer Lynn Kottke

Theses

Theodor Kullak (September 12, 1818 - March 1, 1882) composed "Scenes from Childhood," Op. 62 and Op. 81 for young piano students. This thesis is a guide for teaching these pieces to intermediate piano students. Following Kullak's biography, aspects of note-reading, fingering, rhythm, technique, and musicality are discussed and illustrated in specific examples from the music.

The Effect Of The Introduction Of The Euro On The Stock Price Volatility In The Belgian Equity Market, Hanne Zmierczak

Theses

This study serves to research the effect of the introduction of the Euro as a currency on the volatility in the equity market in Belgium. It particularly looks at the Bel20 index volatility, which includes the twenty largest companies listed in the Belgian stock exchange. This study incorporates ordinary least squares regressions with a time series component. Various models with a timeframe between January 1992 and December 2013 are run. The dependent variable of this research is Bel20 volatility, while the independent variables include inflation, consumer confidence, change in industrial production, GDP growth, Euro dummy variables, and a financial crisis …

Analyzing Domestic Abuse Using Natural Language Processing On Social Media Data, J Nicolas Schrading

Theses

Social media and social networking play a major role in billions of lives. Publicly available posts on websites such as Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and Facebook can contain deeply personal accounts of the lives of users – and the crises they face. Health woes, family concerns, accounts of bullying, and any number of other issues that people face every day are detailed on a massive scale online. Utilizing natural language processing and machine learning techniques, these data can be analyzed to understand societal and public health issues. Expensive surveys need not be conducted with automatic understanding of social media data, allowing …

Puncture Initial Data And Evolution Of Black Hole Binaries With High Speed And High Spin, Ian Ruchlin

Theses

This dissertation explores numerical models of the orbit, inspiral, and merger phases of black hole binaries. We focus on the astrophysically realistic case of black holes with nearly extremal spins, and on high energy black hole collisions. To study the evolution of such systems, we form puncture initial data by solving the four general relativity constraint equations using pseudospectral methods on a compactified collocation point domain. The solutions to these coupled, nonlinear, elliptic differential equations represent the desired configuration at an initial moment. They are then propagated forward through time using a set of hyperbolic evolution equations with the moving …

Mer Depré, Margaret Orr

Theses

Mer Depré is an experiment to see if the essence of the experience of depression can be captured through film. Inspired by personal experiences, it invites the viewer to enter a world of darkness and anxiety.

The creation of Mer Depré began with sound. A rough soundtrack was used to create the bones of the film before visuals were laid on top. Most of the animation was done using stop motion techniques. When animating, the process was as important as the end result, and many different materials were used to create various effects. The compositing process compiled all of the …

For The Love Of Books: A Furniture Solution For Transient Bibliophiles, Sarah Wolfsont

Theses

The goal of this thesis project was to design a physical object to help young adults relocate a small book collection to a new housing situation. The under- lying investigation deals with books as a vehicle for expressing identity, the influence of digital texts on the book collection, and the physical burden of transporting a collection of physical books. The project’s final form is a leaning structure that supports 3 book display surfaces that hang from a cross bar. It can also be collapsed, the displays worn as backpacks, and the structure easily shouldered between two people.

“What’S Race Got To Do With It?” An Investigation Into The Differences Between Self-Reported Television Exposure And Self-Reported Attitudes Towards Interracial Dating, Kimberly Reeb

Theses

Television has the power to suggest what its viewers should think about and to impact individuals’ attitudes towards controversial topics. The present study examined the differences between individuals’ self-reported television exposure and self-reported interracial dating attitudes (IDA). Television viewing habits and demographics were also analyzed. A survey distributed via social media and email collected 216 responses. Cultivation theory suggests heavy viewers are likely to have more negative perceptions and attitudes. Analysis of differences for IDA between viewers was not statistically significant, but the IDA score was slightly more negative for heavy viewers. Overall, IDA scores were positive, however individuals’ attitude …

Effects Of Virtual Humans’ Facial Emotional Displays On Persuasion, Yuqiong Wang

Theses

This dissertation explores the effect of virtual humans’ facial emotional displays in the context of persuasion. In a collaborative problem-solving game, participants received persuasive information from a virtual teammate. The first study demonstrated that a subservient virtual teammate’s facial emotional displays reduced his or her persuasive capacity. The second study revealed that the effect of a virtual human’s facial emotional displays was jointly determined by whether the observer was in power, and/or whether the observer considered it appropriate to express emotions. Emotional expressions undermined persuasion when the observer overpowered the virtual human, and/or when the observer perceived emotional expressions to …

The Correlation Of Physical Activity And Mindfulness With Depression In International Schools In The Uae, Fiona Barron

Theses

This thesis was concerned with understanding potential preventative influencers in reducing depression. Focusing on mindfulness and Physical Activity (PA). Relatively few studies have explored the relationship between specific factors of PA and adolescent depressive symptoms and none have looked at the UAE population. Therefore the aim of this study was to determine whether a significant association exists between Mindfulness and PA on adolescent depressive symptoms, in order to understand if either variable can reduce the onset of depression, by exploring the relationships between frequency, duration, intensity and number of other individuals. A self-administered instrument was administered to international schools in …

Communication Risk And Strategy In Temporary Organizations, Shelley R. Mcivor

Theses

Communication is a critical and emerging metric for successful outcomes in the high-stakes field of project management. Professional management societies have quantified financial losses caused by ineffective communication. Consulting project management exemplifies a maximum communication risk environment - misunderstanding threatens project finances, strict deadlines, and technical benchmarks - exacerbated by the complexity of a temporary organization structure.

The context of work in a temporary organization adds layers of ambiguity to project communications - an ill-structured domain in technical communication terms. Formal study of communication in temporary organizations is relatively new. Recent studies are derived from engineering and business management perspectives. …

Behavior Of Deformed Dermal Fibroblasts Seeded On A Silicon Membrane Under High Levels Of Strain, Laura Osorno

Theses

The main objective of this thesis is to understand, from a molecular perspective, the morphological and functional abnormalities of human dermal fibroblasts as a response to deformation produced by a normal force that can lead to the potential formation of stretch marks in pregnant women, adolescents, and people with Cushing's syndrome. The main function of dermal fibroblasts is to produce the essential fibrous components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin.

In order to study the mechanism of stretch mark formation, neonatal human dermal fibroblasts were seeded on a silicon membrane for controlled deformation. Upon reaching a confluence of …

Effects Of Onsite Stretching Exercise On Employee Musculoskeletal Discomfort And Wellbeing, Kellie L. Caldwell

Theses

To fight high incidence of musculoskeletal pain and discomfort complaints among the maintenance workers in a large transportation company, this pilot intervention study of an on-site stretch and flex exercise program was implemented. The participants (n=62) were maintenance workers; whose age ranged from 26 to 69 years.

A 4½-minute video was created which included still images of human figures performing stretches, while a voice recording instructed how to perform each stretch. Exercises targeted the neck, shoulders, triceps, hamstrings, and quadriceps. The exercise program was conducted 5 days a week for 5 consecutive weeks, during daily shift meetings.

The results of …

The Role Of Offender Perception In Treatment Outcome For Male Perpetrators Of Intimate Partner Violence With Co-Occurring Substance Dependency, Andrea Desisti

Theses

Background. This study was designed to address a possible interaction of distorted cognitive processes associated with substance dependency and intimate partner violence (IPV), and the affects on subsequent behavior. Objectives. The primary focus was to investigate the relationship between offender perception (i.e., perception of family problems [FP] and perception of need for treatment for family problems [FPTx]) and treatment outcome (i.e., substance use and violence), among a unique sample of substance dependent male offenders of intimate partner violence. Additional investigations included: (1) the change in perception from baseline to the end of treatment, and (2) treatment modality in relation to …

Directing Attention In An Augmented Reality Environment: An Attentional Tunneling Evaluation, Alan J. Lambie

Theses

Augmented Reality applications use explicit cuing to support visual search. Explicit cues can help improve visual search performance but they can also cause perceptual issues such as attentional tunneling. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the relationship between directing attention and attentional tunneling, in a dual task structure. One task was tracking a target in motion and the other was detection of non-target elements. Three conditions were tested: baseline without cuing the target, cuing the target with the average scene color, and using a red cue. A different color for the cue was used to vary the attentional tunneling level. …