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2009

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Reliable, Energy-Aware Cross-Layer Protocol For Wireless Sensor Networks, Ahmed. Badi Jan 2009

Reliable, Energy-Aware Cross-Layer Protocol For Wireless Sensor Networks, Ahmed. Badi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This research addresses communication reliability in the highly constrained wireless sensor networks environment. We propose a cross-layer, reliable wireless sensor protocol design. The protocol benefits from the body of research in the two areas of wireless sensors reliability research and wireless sensors energy conservation research. The protocol introduces a new energy saving technique that considers reliability as a design parameter and constraint. The protocol also introduces a new back-off algorithm that dynamically adjusts to the data messages reliability needs. Other cross-layer techniques that the protocol introduces are dynamic MAC retry limit and dynamic transmission power setting that is also based …

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Relationship Of Self-Directed Learning Readiness To Knowledge-Based And Performance-Based Measures Of Success In Third-Year Medical Students, Brian W. Findley Jan 2009

Relationship Of Self-Directed Learning Readiness To Knowledge-Based And Performance-Based Measures Of Success In Third-Year Medical Students, Brian W. Findley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the self-directed learning (SDL) readiness of third-year medical students in comparison to previously reported scores for the general population; the relationship between SDL readiness and knowledge-based and performance-based measures of success in a medical school using an integrated medical curriculum; and to determine if knowledge-based and performance-based measures of success are significant in predicting Self-Directed Learning Readiness Survey/Learner Preference Assessment (SDLRS/LPA) and National Board of Medical Examiners Family Medicine Shelf Examination (NBME-FM) scores. This study analyzed SDLRS/LPA scores, knowledge-based scores (NBME-FM), performance-based scores (Objective Structured Clinical Examination [OSCE] and preceptor rating), and …

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Simulator And Location-Aware Routing Protocol For Mobile Ad Hoc Acoustic Networks Of Auvs, Edward A. Carlson Jan 2009

Simulator And Location-Aware Routing Protocol For Mobile Ad Hoc Acoustic Networks Of Auvs, Edward A. Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Acoustic networks of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) show great promise, but a lack of simulation tools and reliance on protocols originally developed for terrestrial radio networks has hindered progress. This work addresses both issues. A new simulator of underwater communication among AUVs provides accurate communication modeling and flexible vehicle behavior, while a new routing protocol, location-aware source routing (LASR) provides superior network performance. The new simulator was used to evaluate communication without networking, and then with networking using the coding or dynamic source routing (DSR) protocols. The results confirmed that a network was essential to ensure effective fleet-wide communication. The …

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School Construction, Tracey. Miller Jan 2009

School Construction, Tracey. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Schools must have adequate classroom space available in order to educate the growing population of school age students in Florida. School concurrency is one method used to attempt to have seats available in schools as the need arises. Two Florida counties that have attempted to implement school concurrency are presented in a case study format as well as a Nevada county that has taken a different approach to managing the same issue. Through an analysis of documents, interviews and district data, a hypothesized model is tested and modified to present one method of providing adequate classroom space in Florida schools.

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Smoothing Out The Rough Edges, Karyn H. Anderson Jan 2009

Smoothing Out The Rough Edges, Karyn H. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Both Calixthe Beyala's Le petit prince de Belleville, published in France in 1992, and Cynthia Shearer's The Celestial Jukebox, published in the United States in 2005, explore similar questions regarding the place of immigrants in increasingly multicultural societies. Gilles Deleuze and Fâelix Guattari's concept of - smoothness and - striation illuminates the settings of these two texts, helping demonstrate that the Parisian neighborhood of Belleville presents a striated space dominated by State constraints, from which the residents yearn to break free, and the fictional town of Madagascar, Mississippi consists of relatively smooth space that allows for local improvisation and engenders …

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Simplicial Matter In Discrete And Quantum Spacetimes, Jonathan Ryan Mcdonald Jan 2009

Simplicial Matter In Discrete And Quantum Spacetimes, Jonathan Ryan Mcdonald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

A discrete formalism for General Relativity was introduced in 1961 by Tulio Regge in the form of a piecewise-linear manifold as an approximation to (pseudo-)Riemannian manifolds. This formalism, known as Regge Calculus, has primarily been used to study vacuum spacetimes as both an approximation for classical General Relativity and as a framework for quantum gravity. However, there has been no consistent effort to include arbitrary non-gravitational sources into Regge Calculus or examine the structural details of how this is done. This manuscript explores the underlying framework of Regge Calculus in an effort elucidate the structural properties of the lattice geometry …

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Spectral Refinement To Speech Enhancement, Werayuth. Charoenruengkit Jan 2009

Spectral Refinement To Speech Enhancement, Werayuth. Charoenruengkit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The goal of a speech enhancement algorithm is to remove noise and recover the original signal with as little distortion and residual noise as possible. Most successful real-time algorithms thereof have done in the frequency domain where the frequency amplitude of clean speech is estimated per short-time frame of the noisy signal. The state of-the-art short-time spectral amplitude estimator algorithms estimate the clean spectral amplitude in terms of the power spectral density (PSD) function of the noisy signal. The PSD has to be computed from a large ensemble of signal realizations. However, in practice, it may only be estimated from …

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Revis(It)Ing Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, Kathryn M. Smith Jan 2009

Revis(It)Ing Joseph Conrad's Heart Of Darkness, Kathryn M. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is, admittedly, a text with many racist, imperialist and sexist subtexts. A feminist literary analysis, however, can extract women's empowerment and agency. This thesis takes a closer look at the Mistress (also known as the African woman) and the Intended, two women with vastly different racial and class backgrounds who, in their own ways, demonstrate resistance. This thesis analyzes Mr. Kurtz's often ignored sketch in oils, arguing that the sketch itself demonstrates the colonial mentality of difference and the disruption of that difference. It then explores both the Mistress and the Intended in detail, positing …

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Spatiotemporal Brain Dynamics Of The Resting State, Young-Ah. Rho Jan 2009

Spatiotemporal Brain Dynamics Of The Resting State, Young-Ah. Rho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Traditionally brain function is studied through measuring physiological responses in controlled sensory, motor, and cognitive paradigms. However, even at rest, in the absence of overt goal-directed behavior, collections of cortical regions consistently show temporally coherent activity. In humans, these resting state networks have been shown to greatly overlap with functional architectures present during consciously directed activity, which motivates the interpretation of rest activity as day dreaming, free association, stream of consciousness, and inner rehearsal. In monkeys, it has been shown though that similar coherent fluctuations are present during deep anesthesia when there is no consciousness. These coherent fluctuations have also …

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Studies Towards A Catalytic Asymmetric Isomerization Of Manganese Complexed Alkynes To Allenes Using Chiral Bases, Chang. He Jan 2009

Studies Towards A Catalytic Asymmetric Isomerization Of Manganese Complexed Alkynes To Allenes Using Chiral Bases, Chang. He

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The conversion of alkynyl carbonyls to allenyl carbonyls via manganese mediated coordination followed by a base-catalyzed isomerization was carried out using a range of chiral and achiral amine bases. Chiral amidine and chiral DBU derivatives were synthesized to carry out the isomerization enantioselectively. We employed HPLC equipped with a chiral column to determine the enantiomeric excess. We also proved that the mechanism of that the manganese-coordinated alkyne/allene rearrangement reaction involved an intermediate cumenolate. It was also confirmed that amine base with pKa lower than that of DBU (pKa = 13.6) would not carry out the isomerization. Alkoxy base were also …

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Reduced Representation Of Neural Networks, Roxana A. Stefanescu Jan 2009

Reduced Representation Of Neural Networks, Roxana A. Stefanescu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Experimental and computational investigations addressing how various neural functions are achieved in the brain converged in recent years to a unified idea that the neural activity underlying most of the cognitive functions is distributed over large scale networks comprising various cortical and subcortical areas. Modeling approaches represent these areas and their connections using diverse models of neurocomputational units engaged in graph-like or neural field-like structures. Regardless of the manner of network implementation, simulations of large scale networks have encountered significant difficulties mainly due to the time delay introduced by the long range connections. To decrease the computational effort, it is …

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Spenser's Spiritual Vision, Laura Hendricks Groves Jan 2009

Spenser's Spiritual Vision, Laura Hendricks Groves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

A recent trend in Spenser studies that relies heavily on materialist thinking either undervalues or misses altogether The Faerie Queene's inherent spiritual quality along with the irreducible interaction and ultimate reciprocity of earth and heaven. This thesis argues that Edmund Spenser's spiritual vision in The Faerie Queene expresses itself in a teleological romance that assumes a condition of mutability over stasis in the temporal earthly realm, as its first three heroes ascend a ladder of perfection that evokes the heavenly and eternal, while at the same time heavenly glory reaches down into the story "romancing" the characters and exerting its …

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Study Of Pulsing Flow Of Reactants In A Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (Pemfc), Aquiles. Perez Jan 2009

Study Of Pulsing Flow Of Reactants In A Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (Pemfc), Aquiles. Perez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Pulsing the flow of reactants in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is a new frontier in the area of fuel cell research. Although power performance losses resulting from water accumulation also referred to as flooding, and power performance recovery resulting from water removal or purging, have been studied and monitored, the nexus between pulsing of reactants and power performance has yet to be established. This study introduces pulsing of reactants as a method of improving power performance. This study investigates how under continuous supply of reactants, pressure increase due to water accumulation, and power performance decay in PEMFCs. Furthermore, …

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Students' Preference For Online Versus Face-To-Face Academic Advising Based On Individual Learning Styles, Jess Everet Tuck Jan 2009

Students' Preference For Online Versus Face-To-Face Academic Advising Based On Individual Learning Styles, Jess Everet Tuck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine students' preferred methods of academic advising services and whether they related to their individual learning styles. The first objective of the study was to determine each participant's learning style. The second objective of the study was to determine which method of academic advising each participant preferred. The third objective of the study was to determine whether a relationship existed between the participants' learning styles and preferred methods of academic advising. Additionally, the moderating effect of gender, ethnicity, college major, high school grade point average (GPA), location, and employment on the relationship was …

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Synthesis, Structural Characterization And Biological Studies Of Organotin Polyethers (Sn-O), Girish Vallabhbhai Barot Jan 2009

Synthesis, Structural Characterization And Biological Studies Of Organotin Polyethers (Sn-O), Girish Vallabhbhai Barot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the western world. In order to treat various types of cancer, platinum-based drugs are most widely employed as metal-containing chemotherapeutic agents. However, their clinical usage is hindered by toxic side effects, and by the emergence of drug resistance. Our focus was to replace platinum with less toxic metal like tin which can give better alternatives for cancer treatment. The major aim of our study was to synthesize novel organotin polyethers (Sn-O) which can be used to combat cancer. Preliminary results from our laboratory using organotin polyethers, that were synthesized by varying …

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Role Of Identity In Posttraumatic Growth And Psychological Adjustment For Adults With Cancer, Barbara E. Abernathy Jan 2009

Role Of Identity In Posttraumatic Growth And Psychological Adjustment For Adults With Cancer, Barbara E. Abernathy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This mixed methods sequential research study was performed to explore the role of identity in posttraumatic growth and psychological adjustment for adults with cancer. One hundred nineteen individuals participated in an online survey which included items from Brief COPE, Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Sense of Coherence Scale - 3 items (SOC-3), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS), and Centrality of Event Scale (CES). A two-step cluster analysis divided the sample into two clusters based on the integration of cancer into identity: High Cancer Identity Cluster (cancer identity scores above M) with …

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Test Of Factors Affecting The Foraging Success Of Scarlet Ibis, Rebecca A. Stanek Jan 2009

Test Of Factors Affecting The Foraging Success Of Scarlet Ibis, Rebecca A. Stanek

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Wading bird foraging success is influenced by many different factors. From January to March 2008, I conducted a small-scale experiment with three captive Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) at the Palm Beach Zoo, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Prey density and the presence of conspecifics were manipulated to test for a response by ibis in terms of prey capture rate. Mixed model analysis, when one prey type was available, showed that capture rate increased significantly with prey density and decreased with the presence of conspecifics. When two prey types were available, prey density and the presence of conspecifics had no effect …

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That's So Last Century, Tealia. Deberry Jan 2009

That's So Last Century, Tealia. Deberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

A literary text is a means for critics to analyze societal influence on the author, and both fashion and body modification serve this same function because they are legible texts with which to interpret the psychological motivations of the wearer in the cultural context in which he or she lives. Fashion theorists such as Roland Barthes and J.C. Flugel have detailed the reasons that they believe dress evolves throughout time, and the following thesis applies their theories to Melville's first novel Typee. In the first chapter, entitled, "Moral Fibers: Dress as the Extension of Self," much emphasis is given to …

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Thai Nurses' Lived Experience Of Caring For Persons Who Had A Peaceful Death In Intensive Care Units, Waraporn. Kongsuwan Jan 2009

Thai Nurses' Lived Experience Of Caring For Persons Who Had A Peaceful Death In Intensive Care Units, Waraporn. Kongsuwan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The objective of this study was to describe the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in the intensive care units in Thailand. A qualitative research design informed by hermeneutic phenomenology was used to analyze data. Participants were 10 intensive care nurses working at adult intensive care units in south Thailand. A snowball purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. Participant inclusion criteria were at least six months' critical care nursing experience, experience in caring for a person who had peaceful death, able to describe peaceful death, and willing to participate in this study. …

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Tolkien's The Silmarillion, David C. Powell Jan 2009

Tolkien's The Silmarillion, David C. Powell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Christian providence in the primary (real) world operates as the model for the spiritual movement of Eru/Illuvatar in Tolkien's secondary (imaginative) world. Paralleling the Christian God, Illuvatar maintains a relationship with his creation through a three-fold activity: preservation, concurrence, and government. Preservation affirms Eru's sovereignty as Creator, and concurrence guarantees creaturely freedom, while paradoxically, government controls, guides, and determines those wills in Time. The union of these three activities comprises the providential relationship of Illuvatar in Tolkien's imaginary world. The following thesis endeavors to carry the argument for providence into The Silmarillion with a declarative and analytical detail that distinguishes …

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Transport And Dispersion Of Fire Extinguishing Agents Downstream From Clutter Elements Of Aircraft Engine Nacelles, Khaled. Zbeeb Jan 2009

Transport And Dispersion Of Fire Extinguishing Agents Downstream From Clutter Elements Of Aircraft Engine Nacelles, Khaled. Zbeeb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The combination of highly turbulent airflow, flammable fluids, and numerous ignition sources makes aircraft engine nacelles a difficult fire zone to protect. Better understanding of nacelle air flow and how it influences the spread of fires and fire extinguishing agents is needed to improve the efficiency of fire suppression. The first objective was to establish a CFD model for a flow field test section to analyze the transport and dispersion of fire extinguishing agents in the presence of various clutter elements. To validate the use of the CFD model, the simulation results of the CFD model were compared to the …

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Trilling R'S, Shannon. O'Brien Jan 2009

Trilling R'S, Shannon. O'Brien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Immigration has become a hot button issue across the United States. Television newsmen dedicate hours of time to excoriate the "illegal invasion." I viewed the immigration debate as something not directly concerning me. I am a legal citizen of Hispanic descent. My mother is a naturalized citizen from Mexico. However, as the government conducted raids looking for illegal immigrants, my mother became more aware of her place as a Mexican woman living in the Midwest. She wondered whether people would assume she was illegal because of her accent and appearance. Our discussions prompted me to think about of my place …

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Understanding In Healthcare Professional Involvement In Patient Internet Use, Neil. Morton Jan 2009

Understanding In Healthcare Professional Involvement In Patient Internet Use, Neil. Morton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Use of the Internet can increase patients' understanding about their medical conditions and offers opportunities to strengthen the patient-physician relationship, increase patient satisfaction, and improve health outcomes. However, physicians vary widely in the extent to which they accept patient online medical information seeking and make it part of the patient-physician relationship. This paper explores factors impacting the extent to which physicians advocate (encourage, speak in favor, or are supportive of) patient internet use. Specifically, using social cognitive theory as a theoretical base, this study develops a model of the determinants of physician advocation of patient use of the internet for …

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Understanding Narcissism And Self-Esteem In Children, Rachel. Evans Jan 2009

Understanding Narcissism And Self-Esteem In Children, Rachel. Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This study examined the empirical relationship between narcissism and self-esteem in an attempt to evaluate competing conceptualizations of narcissism. Participants were 236 children (mean age 11.3 years) in the fourth through eighth grades. Counter to earlier conceptions, which characterized narcissism as very high self-esteem, narcissism and self-esteem were slightly negatively correlated. Also, narcissism predicted several adjustment variables, including aggression. None of these relationships was mediated by self-esteem. Lastly, self-esteem moderated the relationship between narcissism and aggression in boys. Taken together, these lines of evidence point to a new conceptualization of narcissism, modeled after self-discrepancy theory, in which narcissism is conceptualized …

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Using Emotion-Inducing Film Clips To Measure Emotional Coordination, Maureen Jane Leong-Kee Jan 2009

Using Emotion-Inducing Film Clips To Measure Emotional Coordination, Maureen Jane Leong-Kee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Synchronization research reveals that those who are able to coordinate behavior in time are more likely to feel positively towards one another. Unlike previous research that has taken a linear approach, I examine the dynamical nature of individuals' emotional coordination by investigating the overlap in their moment-to-moment emotional responses to positive and negative events in the form of film clips. By using the mouse program, I develop a new relationship paradigm and find that this measure is able to capture the nuances of emotional responses, and, more importantly, it is able to distinguish between relationship partners versus pairs of strangers. …

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Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (Vegf), Bcl-2, And Bax Expression In Fibropapilloma Tumor Tissue And Skin Tissue Of Sea Turtles, Angela. Bancalari-Schmidlapp Jan 2009

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (Vegf), Bcl-2, And Bax Expression In Fibropapilloma Tumor Tissue And Skin Tissue Of Sea Turtles, Angela. Bancalari-Schmidlapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

In sea turtles, the study of the etiology and development of fibropapillomatosis is not fully understood. Sea turtle fibropapillomatosis is a disease characterized by the proliferation of skin fibropapillomas and occasional internal fibromas. In this study, sea turtle fibropapilloma tumor and healthy tissue samples were used to look at VEGF, BCL-2 and Bax expression. Cancer tumors have a well established pattern of protein expression that involves overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), responsible for the growth of new blood vessels, and a high BCL-2 to Bax ratio that leads to uncontrolled cell proliferation. Real time PCR was used to …

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Vibration, Buckling And Impact Of Carbon Nanotubes, Demetris. Pentaras Jan 2009

Vibration, Buckling And Impact Of Carbon Nanotubes, Demetris. Pentaras

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Natural frequencies of the double and triple-walled carbon nanotubes are determined exactly and approximately for both types. Approximate solutions are found by using Bubnov-Galerkin and Petrov-Galerkin methods. For the first time explicit expressions are obtained for the natural frequencies of double and triple-walled carbon nanotubes for different combinations of boundary conditions. Comparison of the results with recent studies shows that the above methods constitute quick and effective alternative techniques to exact solution for studying the vibration properties of carbon nanotubes. The natural frequencies of the clamped-clamped double-walled carbon nanotubes are obtained; exact solution is provided and compared with the solution …

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Virtual Science Instructional Strategies, Tammy J. Gillette Jan 2009

Virtual Science Instructional Strategies, Tammy J. Gillette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this proposed research study was to identify actual teaching practices/instructional strategies for online science courses. The identification of these teaching practices/instructional strategies could be used to compile a set of teaching practices/instructional strategies for virtual high school and online academy science instructors. This study could assist online science instructors by determining which teaching practices/instructional strategies were preferred for the online teaching environment. The literature reviewed the role of online and face-to-face instructional strategies, then discussed and elaborated on the science instructional strategies used by teachers, specifically at the secondary level. The current literature did not reflect an …

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War Within Houses, Hillary. Boles Jan 2009

War Within Houses, Hillary. Boles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This work of creative nonfiction is meant to explore the effects of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder in American war veterans and their families. As a work of blended literary journalism and memoir, the author interviewed afflicted veterans from World War II to the current Iraq and Afghanistan wars, included scholarly research, and reflected on how her father's dealings with the disorder have affected her family.

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We Are What We Eat, Marlena Kay Dates Jan 2009

We Are What We Eat, Marlena Kay Dates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

In the modern United States, capitalism is the predominant cultural value that structures the food system. The current American relationship to food is strained, at best, as two-thirds of Americans experience overweight and obesity and are at risk for a number of serious health complications. An understanding of the historic and political-economic aspects of the American food system is necessary to address the effects of our modern food habits on our ideas of our selves. This thesis analyzes the types of foods Americans eat, why they make the food choices that they do, how they feel about their eating habits …

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