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2008

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The Circle Of Many Voices In Chaucer's The Parliament Of Fowls, Nancy Kay Gates Fleisher Jan 2008

The Circle Of Many Voices In Chaucer's The Parliament Of Fowls, Nancy Kay Gates Fleisher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Geoffrey Chaucer's poem. The Parliament of Fowls, has been acknowledged as an intricate dream vision of balanced contrasts of ideas, double entendre words, classical models, and rules of courtly love. Examining the heretofore unexamined voices invented by Chaucer's narrator, l found that the ancient grammatical term of "middle voice," employed in recent linguistic criticism and theory, served to place the narrator inside his world of reading, dreaming, and writing. As critic and poet. Chaucer offers the reader new ways to think about ancient literary themes of reading. writing, listening, and telling stories about love. The reader remains free to enjoy …

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The Effect Of Vegetation (Ipomoea Pes-Caprae) On Leatherback (Dermochelys Coriacea) Nest Productivity, Jeremy R. Conrad Jan 2008

The Effect Of Vegetation (Ipomoea Pes-Caprae) On Leatherback (Dermochelys Coriacea) Nest Productivity, Jeremy R. Conrad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

From 2004 - 2007, the beach at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge (St. Croix, USVI) experienced low summer erosion, which allowed native pioneer vegetation to spread seaward and invade leatherback-nesting areas. The encroachment of vegetation reduced nest survival. Here I describe the results of an experimental assessment of vegetation control methods and of the effects of native vegetation on leatherback hatching and emergence success. I tested four treatments: (i) naturally vegetated, (ii) herbicide treated vegetation, (iii) mechanically removed above ground vegetation, and (iv) non-vegetated (control) plots. Nests were relocated into each of the plot types then left to incubate naturally. …

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The Relations Of Sexist Beliefs To The Personal And Social Adjustment Of Preadolescent Children, Rebecca L. Collins Jan 2008

The Relations Of Sexist Beliefs To The Personal And Social Adjustment Of Preadolescent Children, Rebecca L. Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this thesis was to see how sexist beliefs in childhood relate to indexes of children's personal and social adjustment. We developed an instrument to study the sexist beliefs that children have regarding work, parenting, dating, and other aspects of gender roles. We predicted (and found) that having these sexist beliefs affected the sexes differently. For girls sexist beliefs were associated with reduced global self-worth and body satisfaction; and increased depression. For boys, sexist beliefs were associated with increased global self-worth, narcissism, externalizing behaviors, and competence in sports; and decreased depression and prosocial behavior.

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The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy Of Senior Adults And Their Use Of The Internet, Annmarie Masi Jan 2008

The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy Of Senior Adults And Their Use Of The Internet, Annmarie Masi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This mixed method research design explored the relationship between the selfefficacy of senior adults and their use of the Internet. Two quantitative research questions guided this study: (a) Is there a relationship between the self-efficacy of senior adults and their level of use of the Internet? and (b) Do the demographics (gender, age, and race/ethnicity) moderate the relationship between the self-efficacy of senior adults and their level of use of the Internet? Two qualitative research questions guided this study: (a) Is there a difference in views of senior adults in regard to their use of other technologies? and (b) Is …

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Trophic Ecology Of The Slender Snipe Eel, Nemichthys Scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae), Jennifer N. Feagans Jan 2008

Trophic Ecology Of The Slender Snipe Eel, Nemichthys Scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae), Jennifer N. Feagans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Roughly 92% of the total volume of Earth's oceans is considered deep sea. The eel species, Nemichthys scolopaceus, inhabits these waters, and little is known of its diet, its place within pelagic food webs, and its overall ecological impact. In this study we quantitatively estimate the abundance, feeding and predation impact of this key predator. Specimens were collected in 2004 along Georges Bank as part of the Census of Marine Life Gulf of Maine project. Gut contents were analyzed, revealing thirteen prey types, primarily euphausiids and decapod crustaceans. Other potential prey (i.e. fishes) were absent from the diet, suggesting a …

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Unintended Alliances, Michael. Bocco Jan 2008

Unintended Alliances, Michael. Bocco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This thesis will explore the origins of the U.S.-Israeli alliance during the Kennedy administration. John F. Kennedy provided Israel with the first U.S. weapons sale, issued the first informal security guarantee, and established the first joint security consultations between both nations. Ironically, Kennedy gave these concessions to contain Israel, not to establish closer relations. His primary objective for the Middle East was to improve U.S. relations with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, seeing Nasser as the path for gaining pro-American sentiments among the Arab population in the region to the detriment of the Soviets. Kennedy unintentionally laid the foundations of …

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Tennessee Williams's Guilt Inspired 'Savior' Doubles, Isaac H. Colegrove Jan 2008

Tennessee Williams's Guilt Inspired 'Savior' Doubles, Isaac H. Colegrove

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This thesis documents Thomas Lanier (Tennessee) Williams's treatment of brother/sister relationships in literary works written between 1939 and 1950. Though Williams began by exploiting his troubled relationship with his sister Rose in "The Long Goodbye" and "The Purification," two one-act plays, he revised his treatment of siblings in The Glass Menagerie and the short story "The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin." These works do not merely reveal the writer's transparent guilt and shame at having neglected his sister at moments when he could have helped her, nor do they serve simply to over-write his torrid depictions of …

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Trouble In Paradise: The Influence Of Property Insurance On The Politics Of Growth In Florida From 1880 To 1995, Patrick T. Welsh Jan 2008

Trouble In Paradise: The Influence Of Property Insurance On The Politics Of Growth In Florida From 1880 To 1995, Patrick T. Welsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, represented a watershed event in illuminating the financial consequences of Florida's business and political leaders decisions fostering population and economic growth without planning or control. The frontier mentality of the early generations of pioneers carried over to later developers and politicians, and led to a vision of empty land as unlimited economic opportunity The assumption of regulatory control of the insurance industry by state government allowed the completion of the emerging national housing policies for fully securing mortgages These policies essentially made property insurance mandatory. The retention of the cartel operation of the insurance industry led …

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The Fate Of Copper In Flooded South Florida Agricultural Soils And Its Toxicological Effects On The Florida Apple Snail, Pomacea Paludosa, Emily Catherine Rogevich Jan 2008

The Fate Of Copper In Flooded South Florida Agricultural Soils And Its Toxicological Effects On The Florida Apple Snail, Pomacea Paludosa, Emily Catherine Rogevich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Agricultural sites have been acquired under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) for the creation of water storage areas. Copper desorption and toxicity to the Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) were investigated using soils from these sites. Copper concentrations in II soils ranged from 5 to 234 mg/kg Cu dw, and when flooded, resulted in overlying water Cu concentrations from 9 to 308 11g/L Cu. Juvenile apple snails exposed to three flooded soils had high mortality and decreased growth within 9 to 16 days in two ofthe three soils examined. To assess Cu toxicity to the apple snail at various …

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Toward A Pragmatics Of Intent, Lois. Wolfe Jan 2008

Toward A Pragmatics Of Intent, Lois. Wolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Locus of an author poses questions of intentionality, how intention is discovered, expressed, hidden, revealed and interpreted. The purpose of the study is to find and apply productive interdisciplinary concepts in intentionality detection, decoding and evaluation in fictional texts. The investigation integrates traditions in literature, linguistics, cognitive science and creative writing, posing a pragmatics of intent that complements and complicates precepts in reader reception-based constructivism. Basic to a vision of pragmatic strategies: 1) situating effect and affect in an embodied mind; 2) acknowledging mutual and/or oppositional intentionalities which an embodied author and embodied reader bring to the process of fictional …

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The Subaltern Female Struggle For Power In Courtly Love France And Medieval Spain, Verna Michelle Macbeth Jan 2008

The Subaltern Female Struggle For Power In Courtly Love France And Medieval Spain, Verna Michelle Macbeth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

In medieval France, much of the written literature was dominated by the system of courtly love, in which the married noble woman held the position of authority over her lover or knight. Yet this courtly system was entirely literary and did not change women's subjugated position in feudal society, and even propagated misogynistic ideals. In John Beverly's theory of Subalternity, the struggle for power within different systems is shown as having two main groups, the elite and the subaltern; the former having control over the representation of the latter, and therefore control over how the subaltern shapes its selfimage. In …

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Web Accessibility For The Hearing Impaired, Simone. Pasmore Jan 2008

Web Accessibility For The Hearing Impaired, Simone. Pasmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

With the exponential increase of Internet usage and the embedding of multimedia content on the Web, some of the Internet resources remain inaccessible for people with disabilities. Particularly, people who are deaf or Hard of Hearing (HOH) experience inaccessible Web sites due to a lack of Closed Captioning (CC) for multimedia content on the Web, no sign language equivalents for the content on the Web, and an insufficient evaluation framework for determining if a Web page is accessible to the Hearing Impaired community. Several opportunities for accessing content needed to be rectified in order for the Hearing Impaired community to …

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Visualization As A Qualitative Method For Analysis Of Data From Location Tracking Technologies, Mohan Mani Jan 2008

Visualization As A Qualitative Method For Analysis Of Data From Location Tracking Technologies, Mohan Mani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

One of the biggest factors in the quest to better wireless communication is cellular call handoff, which in tum, is a function of geographic location. In this thesis, our fundamental goal was to demonstrate the value addition brought forth by spatial data visualization techniques for the analysis of geo-referenced data from two different location tracking technologies: GPS and cellular systems. Through our efforts, we unearthed some valuable and surprising insights from the data being analyzed that led to interesting observations about the data itself as opposed to the entity, or entities, that the data is supposed to describe. In doing …

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Validating Music Therapy And Its Effectiveness In Treating Brain Disorders, Kristin Renee Hurley Jan 2008

Validating Music Therapy And Its Effectiveness In Treating Brain Disorders, Kristin Renee Hurley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The success of the music therapy profession has been well established, though the healing properties of music are not yet fully understood. Clinical observations show the medicinal value of music therapy; however, it is challenging to quantify music's beneficial effects. Examining music therapy's effectiveness in treating neurological disorders can possibly help to better validate this profession. However, music therapy is a multidisciplinary field, and perhaps we must come to a better understanding of how the various disciplines relate to one another. Music has the power to modulate our emotions. Neurological studies involving music therapy might help to uncover the connection …

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Visual Discrimination By C57bl/6j Mice In Water Maze Tasks, Eric D. Buerger Jan 2008

Visual Discrimination By C57bl/6j Mice In Water Maze Tasks, Eric D. Buerger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

When interpreting how an animal "learns" discrimination tasks, strain capabilities must be considered, and it should be shown that they comprehend the task in a manner consistent with the given interpretation. A novel visual-discrimination (VD) task for relative-size-relations was used to examine visual cue use in C57BL/6J mice, which are shown to have biologically good vision and neurologically intact memory for VD tasks. Results suggest C57BL/6J strain may not be fully capable of relative cue-size associations or even object recognition-based on a water maze VD task. This is in contrast to previous studies suggesting this mice strain is quite strong …

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Utopian/Dystopian Thought Experiments And The Potential For A New Strateb')' Of Inquiry In Public Administration, Cindy L. Pressley Jan 2008

Utopian/Dystopian Thought Experiments And The Potential For A New Strateb')' Of Inquiry In Public Administration, Cindy L. Pressley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose behind this dissertation is the creation, development, and illustration of a new strategy of inquiry in public administration. This new strategy of inquiry is a utopian/dystopian thought experiment. A utopian/dystopian thought experiment should provide its user with a way to develop a new/different viewpoint with which to examine an administrative activity. A researcher begins with an original viewpoint and should then develop a new/different viewpoint, a utopian/dystopian viewpoint, by engaging in a utopian/dystopian thought experiment. A utopian/dystopian thought experiment is developed in this dissertation by bringing together elements from utopian literature and scientific thought experiment literature using a …

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Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Two Community College Baccalaureate Programs In Florida, Edwin P. Bemmel Jan 2008

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Two Community College Baccalaureate Programs In Florida, Edwin P. Bemmel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this case study was to determine which, if any, alternative in delivering baccalaureate programs in the state of Florida was the most cost-effective one. This exploratory study focused on gaining an understanding of the cost effectiveness of two baccalaureate programs offered at a Florida community college to two like programs at a Florida university using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The researcher interviewed five community college and three State Department of Education administrators during the Fall of 2007 and analyzed expenditure and effectiveness data from 2003-04 through 2006-07 to determine the cost effectiveness for the programs at each …

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Design & Performance Of A Wind And Solar-Powered Autonomous Surface Vehicle, Patrick Forde Rynne Jan 2008

Design & Performance Of A Wind And Solar-Powered Autonomous Surface Vehicle, Patrick Forde Rynne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The primary objective of this research is the development a wind and solar-powered autonomous surface vehicle (WASP) for oceanographic measurements. This thesis presents the general design scheme, detailed aerodynamic and hydrodynamic aspects, sailing performance theory, and dynamic performance validation measurements obtained from a series of experiments. The WASP consists of a 4.2 meter long sailboat hull, a low-Reynolds number composite wing, a 2000 Watt-hour battery reservoir, a system of control actuators, a control system running on an embedded microprocessor, a suite of oceanographic sensors, and power regeneration from solar energy. The vehicle has a maximum speed of five knots and …

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Design Ofmosfet Ultra-Wideband Low Noise Amplifiers, Esteban Camacho Jan 2008

Design Ofmosfet Ultra-Wideband Low Noise Amplifiers, Esteban Camacho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Ultra-Wide band (UWB) systems are a new wireless technology capable of transmitting data over a wide spectrum of frequency bands with very low power and high data rates. This technology has the potential to replace almost every cable at home or in an office with a wireless connection. In a UWB receiver, a radio frequency (RF) low noise amplifier (LNA) is one of the most important components. This thesis discusses the entire process involving the design ofUWB low noise amplifiers including a detailed stage by stage analysis of a computer aided design (CAD) of a MOSFET UWB LNA. Simulation tools …

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Data Envelopment Analysis Model For Assessment Of Safety And Security Of Intermodal Transportation Facilities, Elisabeth Gundersen Jan 2008

Data Envelopment Analysis Model For Assessment Of Safety And Security Of Intermodal Transportation Facilities, Elisabeth Gundersen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Following September 11, 2001, numerous security policies have been created which have caused a number of unique challenges in planning for the transportation networks. In particular, there is a need to enhance security by improving collaboration between various transportation modes. The transportation modes are disconnected and have unequal levels of security and efficiency. Tools need to be refined for collaboration and consensus building to serve as catalysts for efficient transportation solutions. In this study, we developed and investigated a mathematical model using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess the safety and security of intermodal transportation facilities. The model identifies the …

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Dispositionally Speaking, What You See Is What You Get, Robert P. Shuhi Jan 2008

Dispositionally Speaking, What You See Is What You Get, Robert P. Shuhi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Many studies have been devoted to investigating the process by which individuals make dispositional attributions about the people that they encounter. Typically, individuals are more likely to seek future interactions with target individuals if those target individuals have a positive or rewarding disposition. Interactions with target individuals possessing negative or punishing dispositions reduce the likelihood that target individual will be selected for future interactions. An initial false positive trait ascription will be self-correcting with future interactions. An initial false negative trait label will likely remain stable if future interactions are not forced. The importance of quick accurate disposition identification carries …

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Differentiating Decomposition Rates Within The Ridge-Slough Microtopography Of The Central Florida Everglades, Der Heiden Sheryl R Van Jan 2008

Differentiating Decomposition Rates Within The Ridge-Slough Microtopography Of The Central Florida Everglades, Der Heiden Sheryl R Van

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The relative rates of detrital decomposition in four vegetation communities within the Everglades' ridge-slough microtopography were evaluated during two trials. Litterbags with community-specific detritus in proportion to each community's composition were put into the four communities; namely, submerged marsh, emergent marsh, short Cladium ridge, and tall Cladium ridge. These litterbags were paired with litterbags containing control leaf litter from Chrysobalanus icaco and Salix caroliniana during the wet and dry season trials, respectively. No regional differences in decomposition were shown, but there were significant differences across communities, attributed to the initial C:N ratio of the detritus, with the fastest decomposition occurring …

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Do Consumers Forgive And Forget?, Mrad Selima Ben Jan 2008

Do Consumers Forgive And Forget?, Mrad Selima Ben

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

While tension is growing in the Middle East towards the United States due to American foreign policies, hate and anger is rising, and Middle Easterners feel threatened by the United States. It is with such a context in mind that the animosity of consumers in the Middle East is examined and whether that animosity affects the willingness to buy. In this study, the intention is to understand consumers' internal motivations behind their refusal to buy American products. Is it just to express anger, to punish the United States, or just to enhance their images, that consumers in the Middle East …

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Ecoqueer: Moving Beyond Ecocomposition's Heteronormative Binaries, Megan L. Hoover Jan 2008

Ecoqueer: Moving Beyond Ecocomposition's Heteronormative Binaries, Megan L. Hoover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

An examination of ecocomposition reveals that despite being careful to embrace all humans, it is still operating from a heterononnative standpoint. This perspective has led to an exclusion of gay male writers from its place-based approach to the study of the production of writing. By including the work of gay nature writer James Schuyler, the boundaries of ecocomposition are expanded to include yet another way of moving beyond restrictive cultural dualisms. Schuyler's work shows that definitions of masculinity need to be expanded to include gay males, and also highlights how sexual identity and setting interact to produce various interpretations of …

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Them That Has, Gets, Daria Roithmayr Jan 2008

Them That Has, Gets, Daria Roithmayr

Publications

No abstract provided.

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Computing Topological Dynamics From Time Series, Mark. Wess Jan 2008

Computing Topological Dynamics From Time Series, Mark. Wess

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The topological entropy of a continuous map quantifies the amount of chaos observed in the map. In this dissertation we present computational methods which enable us to compute topological entropy for given time series data generated from a continuous map with a transitive attractor. A triangulation is constructed in order to approximate the attractor and to construct a multivalued map that approximates the dynamics of the linear interpolant on the triangulation. The methods utilize simplicial homology and in particular the Lefschetz Fixed Point Theorem to establish the existence of periodic orbits for the linear interpolant. A semiconjugacy is formed with …

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Effect Of Ambient Temperature On Serotonin Syndrome, Swapna. Krishnamoorthy Jan 2008

Effect Of Ambient Temperature On Serotonin Syndrome, Swapna. Krishnamoorthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Serotonin syndrome (SS) is a drug-induced toxicity caused by an excess of serotonin (5-HT) in the central nervous system (CNS). The symptoms of the disorder range from mild to severe, with the severe state evoking life-threatening hyperthermia. Autonomic dysfunction is controlled in part by serotonin receptors, with the 5-HT2A receptor responsible for increasing core body temperature (Tcor). Our results show that the 5-HT2A receptors on the preoptic/anterior hypothalamus (PO/AH) and prefrontal cortex (PFC), in particular, are sensitive to changes in ambient temperature (Tamb). The toxic increase of 5-HT is postulated to occur due to the temperature-dependent activation of these receptors …

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Effects Of Water Depth And Vegetation On Wading Bird Foraging Habitat Selection And Foraging Succes In The Everglades, Samantha. Lantz Jan 2008

Effects Of Water Depth And Vegetation On Wading Bird Foraging Habitat Selection And Foraging Succes In The Everglades, Samantha. Lantz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Successful foraging by avian predators is influenced largely by prey availability. In a large-scale experiment at the Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment project within the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, I manipulated two components of prey availability, water depth and vegetation density (submerged aquatic vegetation and emergent vegetation), and quantified the response by wading birds in terms of foraging habitat selection and foraging success. Manly's standardized selection index showed that birds preferred shallow water and intermediate vegetation densities. However, the treatments had little effect on either individual capture rate or efficiency. This was a consistent pattern seen across multiple …

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Effects Of Nitric Acid And Silane Surface Treatments On Carbon Fibers And Carbon/Vinyl Ester Composites Before And After Seawater Exposure, Tye A. Langston Jan 2008

Effects Of Nitric Acid And Silane Surface Treatments On Carbon Fibers And Carbon/Vinyl Ester Composites Before And After Seawater Exposure, Tye A. Langston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This research focuses on carbon fiber treatment by nitric acid and 3- (trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate silane, and how this affects carbon/vinyl ester composites. These composites offer great benefits, but it is difficult to bond the fiber and matrix together, and without a strong interfacial bond, composites fall short of their potential. Silanes work well with glass fiber, but do not bond directly to carbon fiber because its surface is not reactive to liquid silanes. Oxidizing surface treatments are often prescribed for improved wetting and bonding to carbon, but good results are not always achieved. Furthermore, there is the unanswered question of …

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Empirical Investigation Of Personal And Contextual Factors Involved In Employee Creativity, Jennifer M (Bowers) Collins Jan 2008

Empirical Investigation Of Personal And Contextual Factors Involved In Employee Creativity, Jennifer M (Bowers) Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Researchers have proposed several theoretical explanations of how employee creativity is fostered and developed in organizations. The early literature attributed creativity to personal factors, such as personality and cognitive ability. Researchers also examined the role of environmental factors, such as role models, support and feedback in creativity. More recent research suggests that when individuals lack creativity-relevant skills, there are certain contextual factors that can provide support for the development of the necessary skills. However, there is a dearth of empirical research investigating these relationships. This dissertation summarizes extant research and advances the field by empirically testing the individual and collective …

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