Digital Commons Network^™

A Lesson In Rhetoric: Finding God Through Language In “Batter My Heart”, Marc Daniel Giullian

Theses and Dissertations

A reexamination of John Donne's Holy Sonnet “Batter my heart,” especially one looking at the sonnet's relationship to Early Modern rhetoric, is long overdue. In this paper, I hope to show that a focus on Donne's relationship to Early Modern rhetoric yields several useful new insights. I argue specifically that Donne was probably exposed to Non-Ramist rhetorical methods and theory at many points in his education, from his childhood to his college years to his years at the Inns of Court. Furthermore, Non-Ramist rhetoric has moral implications, suggesting that aspects of an author's feelings, character, and desires can be analyzed …

Holding Hands And Drying Tears: Effectiveness Of Student Employees In Promoting A Successful Lms Implementation, Cary Ann Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Two-thirds of higher education institutions are either currently involved in the process of or will soon begin to review their learning management system strategy (Green, 2012). Transitioning from one LMS to another is an endeavor that utilizes the entire institution and requires a great deal of strategic planning and cooperation. The literature described the involvement of instructional designers and technology support as key players in this transition process over a period of parallel time. When BYU transitioned from Blackboard to Learning Suite, a team of student employees managed the majority of the change. While there was very little time when …

The Effectiveness Of Computer-Enhanced Shadowing And Tracking Pronunciation Exercises For Intermediate Level Foreign Language Learners, Veronique Willardson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effectiveness of on-line video-assisted pronunciation exercises in beginning level classes of foreign-language learning. A review of the current literature on pronunciation is presented, followed by a description of a study used to test the effectiveness of computer-based exercises in improving pronunciation. The participants were a group of high school students that were members of a fourth year French class. As part of their regular class time, the students participated in two types of exercises, in-class group work and computer-lab self-directed exercises, in which the students watched videos with subtitles while repeating what they heard. Satisfaction with …

Systemic Transformation For College And Career Readiness And Enhanced Social Return On Investment, David F. Lewis

Dissertations

The transition in motion in the nation and in Florida has the potential to have a short-term adverse impact on high school graduation rates. The transition to more rigorous Florida Standards and their accompanying assessments are expected to promote improved college and career readiness and graduation rates for students in the long term. The disruptive consequences of the transition presents a scenario of short term losses sparking a sense of urgency among educators, parents, students, and the community at-large. This sense of urgency serves as the catalyst for the transformational change initiatives outlined in this document. This Change Leadership Project …

Holographic-Based Leaky Wave Antennas And Phonon-Enhanced Waveguides For Infrared Applications, Franklin Muriuki Manene

Theses and Dissertations

This work contributes to critical requirements for antenna-coupled detection applications: 1) large capture cross section with design control of angular response and 2) long propagation lengths of complex signals. Antenna-coupled detectors for infrared applications provide appreciable capture cross sections while delivering signals to sub-wavelength-sized detectors. In this work, leaky-wave antennas are considered for the first time in the infrared spectrum. Design characterization of angular radiation patterns as well as polarization is presented. While leaky-wave antennas hold great promise for enhancing capture cross section, thus narrowing the field of view of the detector, there is a parallel need to preserve coherent …

The Effect Of Hearing Impairment On Word Processing Of Infant- And Adult-Directed Speech, Velma Sue Robertson

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Objective. Little is known about how children with hearing loss (CHL) process words. The Emergent Coalition Model (ECM) of early word learning proposes that multiple cues (e.g., perceptual, social, linguistic) are used to facilitate word learning. Because hearing loss influences speech perception, different word learning patterns may emerge in CHL relative to children with normal hearing (CNH). One perceptual cue used by young children to access word learning is infant-directed-speech (IDS). Specifically, twenty-one month-olds can learn words in IDS but not in adult directed speech (ADS); however, by 27 months children can learn words in ADS. Currently, it is unknown …

Nutrition Knowledge Of High School Senior Students In Northwest Arkansas, Grace Heymsfield

General Human Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Numerous changes in school environment regarding nutrition have been implemented in Arkansas, but there is no means in place of testing nutrition curriculum effectiveness in terms of nutrition knowledge of students. High school senior students completed a validated nutrition knowledge survey regarding the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. Further testing with a larger sample size is recommended.

Simulated Microgravity Induces Epigenetic Changes, Nkem Osarume Azu B.S

Theses (Pre-2016)

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism involved in gene expression regulation. Astronauts are constantly being exposed to different stress factors, which include radiation, microgravity and confinement. These environmental stressors are understood to increase bone loss, decrease muscle mass and reduce immune function. Our objective is to investigate the hypothesis that modeled microgravity induces gene expression through epigenetic changes. Abnormal epigenetic events have been reported in human diseases like cancers and immunological disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine whether modeled microgravity induces these epigenetic changes by examining the expression of the proteins known to regulate gene expression specifically …

Television Program Preferences Among Nigerian Residents In Houston Texas., Akeem Abimbola

Theses (Pre-2016)

The primary purpose of this study was three fold: to examine television program preferences of Nigerians living in Houston, Texas; to examine their perceptions towards the violence and sex appearing in American TV programs; and also to determine whether there are cultural differences impacting these Nigerians attitudes towards such programs. A total of 200 Nigerians adults living in Houston, Texas, participated in this survey using the convenience sampling technique. Roughly 56 percent of the participants were . females and 44 percent were males. Nearly half of the participants were lbo, 49 percent were Yoruba, and the rest were Hausa. The …

Determination Of Copper Species In Atmospheric Waters, Joe Palmer

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The total copper concentration was determined in rainwater and roof runoff collected in Plymouth, UK between Sept-Oct 2013. The concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and found to be 2.19 ± 0.456 and 3.18 ± 0.506 μg L-1 for rainwater and roof runoff, respectively. These were found to coincide with other published rainwater Cu concentrations. The method itself showed poor accuracy, with a 77.6% recovery for Cu. A method for the determination of Cu(I) by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry using bathocuproine was also evaluated. A series of Cu(I)Br calibration standards between concentrations of 0.05 and 0.5 mM were used …

Identifying The Optimum Temperature For The Most Efficient Photosynthetic Rate In The Scleractinian Coral Stylophora Pistillata In The Gulf Of Eilat, Red Sea, Eleanor Vaughan

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The Gulf of Eilat (GoE), Red Sea, is a unique region that harbours one of the northernmost coral reef ecosystems in the world, and possesses high biodiversity and endemism. Global climate change is associated with an increase in sea surface temperatures that can lead to bleaching and mortality in scleractinian corals. However the corals in the GoE differ to other reefs at the same high latitude because of their unique resilience to thermal stress, which suggests that this region may be a refuge for reefs under a period of environmental change. This study aimed to determine the temperature at which …

Are The Current Methods Of Remediation To Reduce Nitrate Contamination In Groundwater In The Developing World Effective? A Systematic Review, Jessica Nadin

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Nitrate contamination of groundwater has become a growing problem, particularly in the developing world as a result of agricultural intensification and rapid urbanisation leading to leaching and run off. Large numbers of people depend on groundwater for drinking and ingestion of nitrate contaminated waters can lead to methaemoglobinemia and cancers. This review examines biological, chemical and physical methods currently employed to remove nitrate contamination from groundwater. Review of these methods is achieved by extensive literature searching and utilisation of inclusion criteria and quality assessments to obtain relevant results. The review found that all of the methods examined are effective. Effectiveness …

Satellite Remote Sensing Of Primary Production In The Bering Sea, Prima Anugerahanti

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The Bering Sea covers over 2 million square kilometres of the northernmost region of the Pacific Ocean (NPO, 2008), and is considered to be one of the most productive seas in the world (Walsh et al., 1989). Linking the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Bering Sea is almost entirely surrounded by the landmasses of Alaska and Russia. A steep continental slope divides this sea between the expansive continental shelf (<200 m depth) on its eastern waters and the deep basin (>2000 m depth) to the west (Brown et al., 2011)...

"You Are What You Eat": How Diet Can Influence The Gut Microbiota Of Marine Invertebrates, Malin Tietjen

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Microorganisms are omnipresent in every ecosystem on earth and the majority of identified species belong to the domains Bacteria and Archaea of which bacteria are considered to represent the greatest diversity (Staley et al., 2007). Microbes are organised in complex and diverse communities depending on the environmental conditions, and they commonly live closely associated with eukaryotic hosts. The body surfaces of nearly all higher organisms are populated by diverse microbial communities and this microbiota is understood to have large impacts on the hosts’ biology (Ley et al., 2008). The greater part of the microbiota consists of microorganisms that are beneficial …

The Interplay Of Gender Role Orientation And Type-D Personality As Predictors Of Body Dissatisfaction In Undergraduate Women, Andrew Robbins

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The importance of body image and its effects on psychological functioning and health behaviours has received much interest in recent decades; however its precursors are still unclear. The purpose of the present research was to focus attention on the associations between gender role orientation (agency-communion), Type-D personality and body image. Undergraduate women aged between 18 and 47 from Plymouth University School of Psychology (N = 120, n = 64 for non Type-D group, n = 56 for Type-D group) completed measures of gender role orientation (PAQ), Type-D personality classification (DS-14) and attitudes towards body image (MBRSQ). Results indicate that Type-D …

Coping Strategies And Methods Of Managing Psychological Trauma During Adolescence: An Interpretative Phenomenological Perspective, Clare Moheby-Ahari

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) the present study investigated the coping strategies that adolescents use in the aftermath of psychologically traumatizing experiences. A detailed analysis of ten transcripts identified four significant themes that specifically applied to the investigation topic: Event appraisals and coping, Emotion-regulation strategies, Extreme methods of coping, and Social support. These are discussed in reference to the present literature on coping with trauma, with a focus on concepts specifically related to adolescents. Sense of self and basic assumptions regarding their world and role within it were found to be significant underlying factors in the adolescents’ experience of coping …

Moore's Law, Susannah Domaille, Jacob Hughes, Samantha Metters, James Sharwin

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Moore’s law originally was the observation that the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles roughly every 18 months. However, many other areas of technology progress with a similar exponential growth. For instance, can one find an analogous law in the context of super-computing? The aim of this paper is to answer this question by showing how a variant of Moore’s law emerges from an analysis of the “Top 500” lists of super computers from 1993 to 2013.

Bathing Water Quality: Public Perception And Awareness, Jeffrey Shepherd

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The public awareness of, and response to, information regarding bathing water quality was evaluated along the beaches of Poole, Dorset, during the peak summer months in 2013. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the form of an informal interview with participants at the beach. 61% of the sample rated coastal pollution of high importance to them and the participants correctly identified the negative impact that sewage, agriculture, litter and fuel have on bathing water quality. Bathing water quality was the second most important factor influencing the public decision to visit a particular beach. Furthermore there was statistically significant evidence to …

The British Conference Of Undergraduate Research, Stuart Hampton-Reeves

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Guest editorial from: Stuart Hampton-Reeves (Head of Graduate Research School, Director of the Centre for Research-informed Teaching, University of Central Lancashire)

An Investigation Into Whether Snack Choices Differ Between Emotional Eaters And Non-Emotional Eaters, Jessica Adams

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Eating patterns and behaviour have been linked to the increasing incidence of weight-related health risks. Understanding the motivations behind certain food choices, particularly high energy-dense foods is therefore of importance. The purpose of this research was to get a better understanding of the snack choices of emotional eaters and how these compared to non-emotional eaters. Participants, 100 male and female students, completed a questionnaire to determine emotional eating and snacking habits. Analyses of the data collected revealed that there was a weak, yet statistically significant correlation between the consumption of sweet snacks and emotional eating score, but no significant difference …

Opinion: Overfishing And The Replacement Of Demersal Finfish By Shellfish: An Example From The English Channel, Carlotta Molfese, Doug Beare, Jason M. Hall-Spencer

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The worldwide depletion and collapse of major fish stocks through intensive industrial fishing has raised many concerns about the sustainability of current fishing practices and the effectiveness of existing management measures (Christensen et al., 2003; Baum and Worm, 2009; O’Leary et al., 2011). Long-term data series such as fishery statistics have been analysed extensively in recent decades to assess changes in fish populations and ecological communities (Pauly et al., 2001; Pinnegar et al. 2002; Pauly and Chuenpagdee, 2003). Since Pauly et al.’s (1998) pioneering work, the phenomenon of “Fishing Down Marine Food Webs” has been investigated worldwide. The trend for …

Acclimatization Of Anemonia Viridis (Forskäl 1775) By Thermal Preconditioning: Potential Role Of Catalase, Sanket Chiplunkar

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The phenomenon of cnidarian bleaching has attracted much attention in the literature, as the frequency of coral bleaching events and mass mortality have increased over the last few decades, driving the degradation of coral reefs and loss of coral cover worldwide. This has also led to increased interest in exploring the underlying physiological and biochemical mechanisms of acclimatization of reef building corals and other symbiotic cnidarians to thermal stress. Thermal history and/or previous exposure to thermal stress have been linked with the thermal acclimatization of scleractinian corals in many studies. In this study, it was demonstrated that short term thermal …

Indium Telluride Cylinder Fiber Laser, Abhinay Sandupatla

Theses - ALL

A new type of fiber laser is described here. The laser consists of a 25 mm long fiber with an approximately 15 nm thick In2Te3 semiconductor layer at the glass core glass cladding boundary. The laser mirrors consist of a thick vacuum deposited aluminum layer at one end and a thin semitransparent aluminum layer deposited at the other end of the fiber. The laser is pumped from the side with either light from a Halogen Tungsten incandescent lamp or a blue, power LED. Since both, the gain of the In2Te3 semi-conductor and aluminum mirrors have a wide bandwidth the output …

Mistress Or Hero? Corruption Reports On Sina Weibo And The Construction Of Chinese Femininity, Yin Wu

Theses - ALL

This qualitative textual analysis study focuses on two Chinese women who were previously sexually involved with the corrupted officers and later reported these officers to authorities. As a Chinese version of Twitter, Sina Weibo is a powerful social networking and communication tool for their reports. The study analyzes the posts and comments available on Sina Weibo about the identity of these women and how hegemonic Chinese femininity is performed, maintained, and challenged. These discussions may reflect the potential cultural, ideological, and socioeconomic factors that can influence the construction of contemporary Chinese femininity, providing the picture of how social media and …

The Effects Of Language Complexity On Natural And Emotion Concept Formation In Early Language Learners, Stephanie Eileen Jett

Dissertations

The present study investigated the role of language complexity in natural and emotion concept formation ability in young children (two- to five-year-olds). Language complexity was measured by selections from the Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Childhood Development II, and concept formation was assessed at three levels of abstraction. The natural concepts were presented as two alternative discriminations on a touch-screen computer, as follows: subordinate level (lions versus tigers), basic level (cats versus dogs), and superordinate level (animals versus nonanimals). The following emotion categories were discriminated: subordinate level (anger versus sadness), basic level (positive [happiness and positive surprise] versus negative [anger …

The Relationship Between The Growth Score And The Overall Team Observation Rating For Teachers In Tennessee, Joshua B. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the TVAAS growth score given by the Tennessee Department of Education and the overall Tennessee Educator Assessment Model (TEAM) observation rating for teachers in grades 3 through 8. The participating county public school system for this study is located in Northeast Tennessee. Participants were teachers in the school system teaching Math, English/Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies in grades 3 through 8 in 10 elementary schools, 6 middle schools, and 2 K-8 schools. Specifically, this research examined the relationship between the TEAM observation scores and overall TVAAS growth score …

An Examination Of Successful Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Males In A Northeast Tennessee Middle School, Stephen E. Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors that contribute to positive educational outcomes as measured by the EXPLORE test for eighth grade males who qualify for free or reduced price lunch. In addition, this study was conducted for the purpose of improving the educational program at a Northeast Tennessee middle school. Archival EXPLORE data, as well as free and reduced price lunch data, were used to identify high school graduates, 6 males and 6 females, who had performed at or above expectation on the eighth grade EXPLORE test. Females were included …

The Purpose And Practice Of Academic Probation, Charlotte Hoover

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Academic policies in higher education address institutional academic standards and student requirements including academic underachievement. Academic probation is one academic policy designed to alert students they are not meeting the minimum academic standards of the institution. Institutions offer a variety of student services to support institutional retention efforts and student persistence to graduation; however, there is little research that addresses academic policies and their role in the success of the college student (Brawner, Frillman, & Ohland, 2010). This qualitative case study was an exploration of the perceptions of undergraduate students and the administration by examining the policy of academic probation …

Teachers’ Perception Of Empowerment In Christian Schools Accredited By Tennessee Association Of Christian Schools, Melody T. Archer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the perception of teacher empowerment in Christian schools in order to ascertain if teachers were encouraged to take on more leadership responsibilities. One hundred forty-four teachers from 9 Christian schools (K-12) that are accredited by the Tennessee of Association of Christian Schools (TACS) participated in the study.

The statistical analysis reported in the study was based on 5 research questions. Two instruments were used to collect data. A survey using a 5-point Likert Scale was used to collect data on teacher responsibilities, training, experiences, affiliation, and professional practices. Student achievement test scores …

Brand Equity Perceptual Mapping: Competitive Landscapes And Consumer Segments In Brand Equity Space, Brian Parker

Journal of Applied Marketing Theory

This study advanced a technique to map brand metrics and theoretically derived diagnostics that depict the relative positions of competitive brand sets and audience segments in a perceptual consumer-based brand equity space. Survey research collected brand equity ratings for two sets of competitive brands (Nike, Converse, Reebok and Toyota, Nissan, Pontiac), used to construct a pair of twodimensional maps that illustrate the brands’ position on brand equity dimensions relative to competitors and demographic-based segments. Paired brand equity indicators resulted in eight map quadrant areas that characterize a brand positioned in that space. The mapping techniques facilitate the strategic application of …