Digital Commons Network^™

A Conjoint Analysis Of Reader Preference For The Layout Of Tablet Editions Of Magazines, Stephanie Fallon

Theses

The tablet is an emerging channel for content delivery. One industry that is tapping into the potential of tablet content is the magazine industry. Little research has been conducted regarding what readers favor in digital magazines, especially with regards to layout. This thesis aimed to investigate reader preference for the layout of digital editions of magazines in the women's lifestyle genre, designed for the Apple iPad, with a focus on the attributes of image to white space ratio, grid, body typeface, and body text point size.

This study took a quantitative approach in addressing the proposed research question while incorporating …

Let Me Go, Keqing Yu

Theses

This paper is about how my graduation project 3D animation short Let Me Go was developed and produced. The whole process consists of pre-production, production and post-production. It starts with story study and development by analyzing story structure of several animation shorts. Then it talks about experience and process building story for Let Me Go. Next it is design process for character and environment including 2d concept design and 3d model in Autodesk Maya. During production process, this paper focuses on introducing several rigging techniques and explains why to choose them for animation process. Then some rendering and lighting techniques. …

My Spot. A New Kind Of Workspace., Bridget Dee Sheehan

Theses

Designed with the creative industry in mind, my spot is a work space that accommodates today's rapidly changing technology and the shifting workforce. The user can create a work space that works best for his or her unique tools and technologies, whether digital or analog. It offers multiple work surfaces, allowing the worker to utilize their space in different ways throughout the day. This modular system is minimal and functional, but it also allows the worker to maintain his or her identity within the office environment. My spot attempts to break down the traditional cubicle wall and encourage collaboration with …

I Could Go With You., Michelle Bablitz

Theses

I could go with you. is a first-person account of the emotional aftermath following a specific traumatic event in one individual's life, examined through image and word. The narrator's internal struggle is delineated through retrospective sentiments and a fractured chronology. Text and image act as partners in I could go with you., challenging the nature of story telling, as well as the credibility of memory. This disjointed narrative mirrors how memory and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder function in the human psyche following an overwhelmingly shocking or painful experience.

An Evaluation Of The International Volunteer Programme At Hope Community Resources In Alaska, Aisling Sugrue

Theses

A review of the literature identified a theme of ambiguity regarding the phenomenon of volunteerism, regarding the definition, academic perspectives and volunteer’s motives. The review also identified the Volunteer Process Model (VPM, Omoto and Snyder, 1995) and the researcher utilised this model when designing the mixed methods questionnaire to evaluate the motivations, satisfaction and attitudes towards disability of Hope’s international volunteers, both current (n=13) and previous (n=85), and also the impact the volunteer programme has on the volunteer’s careers. The attitudes towards disability of participating staff and management were also evaluated and compared with the volunteers. The impact on Hope’s …

Home Economics Programs Within Higher Education: A Typology, Sara Holtzman

Theses

Home economics programs through the 1920s served varied purposes within higher education. This typology addresses three types of home economics programs - teaching, extension, and academia- through the lens of characteristics, curricula, and examples. Reviewing historical events that lead into the differentiation of home economics programs throughout the United States offers unique insights into the reasons for the development of each type. This typology offers a different point of view in considering what home economics programs entailed, and defines the field as an intentional and academic program of study for the women of higher education.

Evaluation Of General And Specific Assistive Technology Knowledge Among Students With Disabilities In Postsecondary Environments, Randall Boen

Theses

The use of technology has become fairly integrated into our personal, educational, and professional lives. Students with disabilities attending postsecondary institutions may require the use of Assistive Technology (AT) for their educational pursuits and access to other technology. This study quantified students' general knowledge of AT and specific knowledge of Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. In addition, this study examined the relationship between disability support services received and current knowledge of AT among students with disabilities in a postsecondary environment. Participants were recruited from those who received disability support services at a midsize university in Illinois. An online survey was administered to …

The Most Beautiful Times, Yuwen Wang

Theses

The Most Beautiful Times is a series of narrative depicting a woman's psychological experiences with sexual passion, in which

she struggles, suffers, submits, and sacrifices. It is in these

moments that profound emotions exist, which transform the

meaning of her life. This body of work is both literal and metaphorical,

as well as remembered and fantasized. The work is

based on real experiences re-imagined in constructed images to

examine the character's internal conflicts, her loss of innocence

and desire. The work explores how a story can be told through

freezing performance as still frames, as well as how and to …

The Perception Of English Syllable-Final Nasals By Saudi Esl Learners, Turki Nafea Alharbi

Theses

The present study examines Saudi ESL learner perception of three syllable-final English nasal contrasts: /m/-/n/, /m/-/©¯/, and /n/-/©¯/. It was based primarily on two models, the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) and the Speech Learning Model (SLM), in order to determine how Saudi ESL learners categorized nasal segments in their L2, English. In addition, other models, including the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH), contributed in finding the most difficult contrast. The participants, consisting of 24 Saudis studying in the US, were asked to distinguish between 40 English monosyllabic words grouped into minimal pairs. Regardless of their length of exposure, participants had greater …

Energy Drinks: Factors That Influnce College Students' Consumption, Nameer Nassir Faris

Theses

The purposes of this study were: To assess factors that influence energy drink consumptions among college students. To analyze the reasons behind consuming energy drinks as well as the reasons for not consuming them. And to evaluate the participants' knowledge regarding energy drinks' ingredients, safety, and side effects. A total of 417 undergraduate students who registered in 101 general education classes during the Fall 2013 semester at the departments of Health Education, Kinesiology, and Nutrition at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale participated in the study. Energy drink use was associated with the number of the paid employment hours (p= .000). …

Live In The Moment: The Essence Of Life, Ta-Wen Huang

Theses

I have thought about the essence of human life ever since I witnessed the impermanence of people's lives through a near-death experience I had when I was nineteen years old. Life is a given amount of time, space, and memory, and every person, event, and object in the universe is stored up in time, space, and memory. These three factors combine to create the unique experience, character, and life of each individual person.

A number of experts from different fields, as well as international celebrities, have publicly expressed various thoughts on life. However, most of their theories are explained with …

Nutritional Status, Dietary Habits, Practises And Knowledge And Their Relationship With Performance Among Young Athletes In The United Arab Emirates, Seham Mohammed Al Reesh

Theses

Objectives: The goals of this project are 1) To assess the nutritional status, 2) To describe the nutritional knowledge, 3) To describe Nutritional Practices, Dietary Habits for Athletic individual in the United Arab Emirates, Then to investigate the relations of both Nutritional status and Knowledge with Performance.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was done to conducted in a sample of 59 Athletes recruited from AI Jazeera Academic sports clubs in the UAE in which, Nutrition Knowledge, Practices and Habits was evaluated by questionnaire, different components of the nutritional status (Weight, Body Composition, Skin Fold Thickness, Biochemical Parameters) and the Physical Performance …

The Reliability And Nature Of Philosophical Intuitions, Matthew Allen Destefano

Theses

The nature of philosophical intuitions has been a popular topic for philosophical debate. Here, I survey the views available about the nature of intuitions, how to discern and discriminate intuitions from beliefs, feelings, and seemings, and whether or not intuitions count as evidence. Then, I present an account of intuitions that is based on dual-process theory, and argue that philosophical intuitions should be understood as ordinary intuitions are in this account. After analysis of the environment in which philosophical intuitions are learned and receive feedback (although intuitions about logical structures of argument is a notable exception), I conclude that philosophical …

Recasting The Darwinian Dilemma, Abram L. Brummett

Theses

It is uncontroversial to say that evolution has contributed little to the content of our factual judgments about the world. It is also uncontroversial to say that evolution has had a lot to contribute to the content of our non-factual judgments. What has been controversial is the extent to which evolution has influenced the content of our moral beliefs, and whether such influence has any metaethical implications. Sharon Street has received a lot of attention for her attempt to “debunk morality” in her paper, “A Darwinian Dilemma for Realist Theories of Value.” She argues that not only have evolutionary influences …

New Developments Or More Of The Same? A Historical, Sociological, And Political Look At Missouri's Sex Offender Laws From 1995 To 2013, Robert Mackenzie

Theses

The Republican controlled Missouri General Assembly passed HB 301 in 2013 only to have it vetoed by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon. The bill would have eliminated certain juvenile offenders from the sex offender registry allowing for the removal of first time juvenile offenders. Questions: What are the general trends of sex offender laws and how does HB 301 fit with these trends? How do current political and sociological theories of policy creation explain the actions surrounding Missouri’s HB 301? Methods: This transcript used historical analysis of bills passed by the Missouri General Assembly, Missouri newspaper articles, the political makeup of …

Purloined Sperm, Victim-Blaming, And Procreative Asymmetry: A Critique Of Christine Overall’S Analysis Of Prospective Parent Disagreement, Jordan Gabriel Potter

Theses

Prospective Parent Disagreement is an important issue in bioethics that has been upstaged by the related debate on abortion. Of the few pieces of literature that focus directly on this topic, perhaps none is better known than Christine Overall’s controversial book Why Have Children?: The Ethical Debate. In the third chapter, Overall discusses both manifestations of prospective parent disagreement, and she makes an argument that fathers should always be held financially responsible for the child their sperm creates, even in the case where the father does not want the baby. She justifies this claim by suggesting that the procreative asymmetry …

Immigration Restriction Then, Immigration Restriction Now; The Politics Of Iq, Alexandra L. Kummerow

Theses

Background: Immigration laws in the United States have had a strong impact on the development and utilization of intelligence testing since the early 1800's. Basic restriction laws were initially put into place to uphold the biological fitness of our country by excluding persons with physical, mental and intellectual disabilities. As the United States drew more immigrants into its country, physicians and doctors began to develop intelligence tests to examine new immigrants from all over the world. It was at Ellis Island where an extraordinary amount of scientific research took place and intelligence tests became the standard for determining mental abilities. …

Travelmacedonia: A Solution For The Discovery Of Macedonia As A Place Of Travel, Violeta Mangovski

Theses

TravelMacedonia is a thesis, which explores the relationship between interactive design and marketing. Both are studied in respect to create an improved marketing system for Macedonia's tourism, as it is under discovered. A website and app prototype are created in order to meet the goal of increasing awareness of Macedonia and desire to travel there. This topic is relevant to the field of design because of its importance in making the retrieval of information not only accessible, but also to provide this information in an easily accessible and readable way.

The website is designed to surprise users of how interesting …

World Warrior, Dan Farruggia

Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to research the design elements of three of the most recognizable armors in world history (the Samurai, the Knight, and the Viking) and adapt them for futuristic character designs for my own fictious real-time computer game called World Warrior. Much like the command and conquer game Age of Empires, players will pick from a vast range of civilizations, construct their own civilization, build an army, and destroy their opponents. It will take place far into the future, and in a time period where great civilizations such as the Byzantines, the Saracens, the Persians, …

Guiding Attention In Controlled Real-World Environments, Thomas P. Booth

Theses

The ability to direct a viewer's attention has important applications in computer graphics, data visualization, image analysis, and training. Existing computer-based gaze manipulation techniques, which direct a viewer's attention about a display, have been shown to be effective for spatial learning, search task completion, and medical training applications. This work extends the concept of gaze manipulation beyond digital imagery to include controlled, real-world environments. This work addresses the main challenges in guiding attention to real-world objects: determining what object the viewer is currently paying attention to, and providing (projecting) a visual cue on a different part of the scene in …

A Different Sort Of Normal: Critical Analysis Of Five Lesbian Characters’ Coming-Out Narratives On Contemporary Television Shows, Amanda M. Carlino

Theses

The spiral of silence and cultivation theories both support the importance of positive lesbian portrayals on television, both for lesbian and heterosexual viewers. Throughout the history of lesbian representation in media, lesbian characters have been both under and misrepresented. This study examined five lesbian characters on recent and current television shows to demonstrate how their portrayals subvert the traditional lesbian representations in media. It is concluded that while Emily Fields, Santana Lopez, Sophie Webster, Emily Fitch, and Naomi Campbell's narratives fall victim to some negative tropes in representation, they are generally revolutionary and powerful storylines, thus increasing positive visibility, providing …

Wonderland, Meng-Han Yu

Theses

"I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear" Oprah Winfrey .

My thesis "Wonderland" derives its knowledge from my life experiences, re-used to narrate how people can change or improve their attitude towards their life. Let us begin with how the title was born.

My parents were divorced when I was ten years old. My mother, a registered nurse, sometimes had to stay on duty overnight. Her boyfriend, who used to stay home, very often stirred up trouble between my mother and me. My mother always scolded me without considering the …

Understanding The Relationship Between Social Media, Fanship, And Behaviors In Collegiate Athletics, Kurt A. Wirth

Theses

This study is a survey-based examination of social media's relationship with identity and behavioral intentions in the area of collegiate athletics. Based on social identity and organizational identity theories, this study focuses on the role that social media can play in the development of individuals' attitudes and the behaviors that result from them. In doing so, the study becomes one of the first to analyze this relationship and provides a benchmark with which to help develop future studies. Findings show significant correlations between the consumption of an athletic program's social media campaign, level of self-identity with that program, and likeliness …

Magical Landscape, Eunoh Hur

Theses

As Aristotle said, human beings are social creatures. We belong to a social structure and experience communication with other people constantly from the time we are born. Through this process, humans make an effort to focus on becoming free from social oppression. My artwork explores these ideas through the symbolic feature of a bird, evident in each of my paintings and prints. I have also used various compositions and magical landscapes to develop my work. In addition, the combination of painting and intaglio-type printmaking further the in-depth interrelationship of symbolic contents and abstractive environments.

Using Latent Semantic Analysis To Detect Non-Cognitive Variables Of Academic Performance, Daniel Richard Aalderks

Theses

This thesis explores the possibilities of using latent semantic analysis to detect evidence of intrapersonal personality variables in post-secondary student essays. Determining student achievement based on non-cognitive variables is a complex process. Automated essay scoring tools are already in use today in grading and evaluating student texts based on cognitive domain traits, but at this time are not utilized to analyze non-cognitive domains such as personality. Could such tools be configured to detect non-cognitive variables in student essays? Key concepts in this proposal—personality traits, latent semantic analysis, automated essay evaluation, and online cinema reviews—are explored followed by a literature review …

Home Security: The Psychological Threshold, David Strauss

Theses

Home Security: The Psychological Threshold, explores how a thoughtful, intelligent product design solution can psychologically affect two user groups (homeowners and intruders) into opposing emotional states; safety and intimidation.

Using available statistical data and research on home burglaries, as well as inspiration from nature, present day solutions, and the environment, a conceptual security system was designed to meet the needs of suburban homeowners.

The central product, a security system, employs the use of lighting notifications to create a variety of reactive states and monitor individuals who approach a home. Based on the users intentions the monitor can; notify surrounding people …

Applying Social Presence Theory: What Effect Does Lifestyle Imagery Have On Website Persuasiveness?, Deni Paskojevic

Theses

Website design is a crucial element to instantly evoke a customer's interest and communicate the desired message in the clutter of internet sites available. Various research to date indicates that design is most successful when it projects considerable social presence, social presence being the impression that an individual is a part of a communication process. According to Social Presence Theory, the larger the social presence in the medium the better the human connection, and thus the better the communication and understanding. This was tested on an actual web page in the realm of luxury hospitality marketing to see if by …

The Effects Of Moringa Oleifera On Stress Induced Immune Modulation In Mice, Jr. Glenn Drue

Theses

In both humans and animals, stress causes the body to release adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones that cause changes within the body, which include modulation of the immune system. Stress in mammals can cause changes in the profile of immune cells circulating in the blood. Environmental and nutritional stressors can be considered two of the most common animal stressors. In the presence of stress there is an increase in the number of circulating neutrophils and a decrease in the number of lymphocytes within the blood. The physiological changes that occur in animals in response to acute and chronic stress …

Effect Of Feeding Sows Diets Supplemented With Oat And Yeast Culture On The Incidence Of Post Weaning Diarrhea In Their Offspring, Torel Daniels

Theses

Post Weaning Diarrhea (PWD) is a leading cause of mortality in piglets during the first two weeks of weaning. According to the Fairbrother, Nadeau et al. (2005) report, PWD is a major gastrointestinal disease caused by stress, pathogenic intestinal bacteria and immature immune responses. Antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) are used to combat PWD but there is public concern surrounding their use (Casewell, Friis, Marco, McMullin, & Phillips, 2003). The purpose of this study is to investigate natural alternatives to AGP that prevent PWD. Therefore, we designed a study whereby yeast culture and oat were fed to sows during the last …

Antibacterial And Antioxidative Properties Of Essential Oils From Armoise (Artemisia Herba-Alba), Bay (Laurus Nobilis) And Rose Geranium (Pelargonium Capitatum X Radens) In Vitro, Ragina B. Rafiq

Theses

The prevalence of food contamination by pathogenic bacteria resulting in foodborne illness has raised concern to the food industry. In addition, oxidation in food, which affects the shelf life and quality of the food through the formation of off odor and off flavor, is another concern to the food industry. Nitrates, sulfates, benzoates of sodium and potassium, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) are commonly used as preservatives in the food industry. However, long-term safety issues of synthetic preservatives in human health along with negative perception of consumers have lead researchers to find alternative natural preservatives. The purpose of …