Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2015

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 30691 - 30720 of 33599

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Leisure And Life Satisfaction Among Tai Chi And Public Square Dance Participants In Hong Kong, Yechen Yao Jan 2015

Leisure And Life Satisfaction Among Tai Chi And Public Square Dance Participants In Hong Kong, Yechen Yao

Lingnan Theses

Public Square Dance, or Guang Chang Wu (GCW) is a form of group dance that originated from Mainland China and has emerged gradually in Hong Kong. Like the more traditional Tai Chi, GCW is popular among the middle-aged and older adults, and is carried out in public spaces. However, the two activities seem to be treated quite differently by both government authorities and the general public. The study aims to compare the physiological, social and psychological benefits of the two forms of exercise. It also seeks to explore whether and how social determinants affect people’s choice to participate in either …

Go to article

2015 Nyar (Savannah) Program, Nyar (Savannah) Jan 2015

2015 Nyar (Savannah) Program, Nyar (Savannah)

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

N/A

Go to article

Childhood Diet And Mobility At Medieval (1240s Ad) Solt-Tetelhegy, Hungary As Reconstructed From Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analysis, Ariana Gugora Jan 2015

Childhood Diet And Mobility At Medieval (1240s Ad) Solt-Tetelhegy, Hungary As Reconstructed From Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analysis, Ariana Gugora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between 2005 and 2009, archaeologists excavated more than 100 skeletons from the medieval (1240s AD) Hungarian site of Solt-Tételhegy. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on dental enamel and dentin from 24 individuals to examine their childhood diet. Although previous stable isotopic research has described the diet of medieval European peoples, this is the first such study on a medieval Hungarian population. The enamel ?13C values range from -14.4‰ to -8.6‰, with a mean of -11.1‰, while the dentin ?13C values range from -19.4‰ to -14.9‰, with an average of -17.4‰. These data indicate that C3 plants were …

Go to article

The Impact Of User-Generated Interfaces On The Participation Of Users With A Disability In Virtual Environments: Blizzard Entertainment's World Of Warcraft Model, Donald Merritt Jan 2015

The Impact Of User-Generated Interfaces On The Participation Of Users With A Disability In Virtual Environments: Blizzard Entertainment's World Of Warcraft Model, Donald Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When discussing games and the experience of gamers those with disabilities are often overlooked. This has left a gap in our understanding of the experience of players with disabilities in virtual game worlds. However there are examples of players with disabilities being very successful in the virtual world video game World of Warcraft, suggesting that there is an opportunity to study the game for usability insight in creating other virtual world environments. This study surveyed World of Warcraft players with disabilities online for insight into how they used interface addons to manage their experience and identity performance in the game. …

Go to article

Visions Of Race And Gender: Press Coverage Of The French Colonial Expositions Of 1922 And 1931, Zachary Morgan Jan 2015

Visions Of Race And Gender: Press Coverage Of The French Colonial Expositions Of 1922 And 1931, Zachary Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the interwar period, France attempted to reinvigorate interest in the empire amongst the public via elaborate colonial expositions. The colonial expositions of Marseille (1922) and Paris (1931) served as a means to celebrate the empire and to educate the French about the benefits of living within Greater France, an entity that included the metropole and the colonies. This thesis examines how press coverage of both expositions worked alongside these events to counteract anxieties regarding France's economic recovery after the war, continuing world presence, demographic losses, and most importantly the relationship between France and its colonies. It explores how the …

Go to article

Watch Me Disappear: Gendered Bodies, Pro-Anorexia, And Self-Injury In Virtual Communities, Leandra Preston-Sidler Jan 2015

Watch Me Disappear: Gendered Bodies, Pro-Anorexia, And Self-Injury In Virtual Communities, Leandra Preston-Sidler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the relationship between gendered identities, virtual communities, and material bodies, with an emphasis on eating disorders and self-injury practices. The use of the internet to represent and foster particular categories of material bodies, such as the anorexic, the fitness buff, and the self-injurer, has gained substantial visibility due in part to the proliferation of visual imagery presented through social networks. I analyze written and visual texts within specific social networks to assess their function and potential impact on individuals and larger communities. Drawing from Donna Haraway's cyborg theory, N. Kathryn Hayles' posthuman, Judith Butler's performativity, feminist poststructural …

Go to article

Social Media Responsiveness In The Public Sector: A Study Of Social Media Adoption In Three Functional Departments Of U.S. Cities, Daniel Seigler Jan 2015

Social Media Responsiveness In The Public Sector: A Study Of Social Media Adoption In Three Functional Departments Of U.S. Cities, Daniel Seigler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public administration research strongly supports the argument for administrator-citizen collaborations and shows that Web 2.0 social media tools have the potential to increase these collaborations. Some public managers have fully embraced the adoption of social media tools to their fullest collaborative potential while other managers have chosen to limit their full collaborative potential. This study examines four environmental influences to determine if they are the cause of the diverse levels of social media adoption among public administrators. A survey of 157 department managers from 261 large cities across the U.S. shows that 82% of the respondents are currently using some …

Go to article

Millennials Making Meanings: Social Constructions Of Sexual Harassment Regarding Gender And Power By Generation Y, Nicole Stark Jan 2015

Millennials Making Meanings: Social Constructions Of Sexual Harassment Regarding Gender And Power By Generation Y, Nicole Stark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term sexual harassment was brought to light by legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon during the second wave feminist movement in the 1970s, and has since changed in its meaning over the past four decades, influencing policy, legal action, and the way we, as a society, treat this social problem. Millennials, or those born between 1980 and 2000, will be the next generation of working adults that will influence the way sexual harassment is understood and defined both legally and socially. The Millennial generation is typically considered liberal and socially conscious, prompting the research question of “How do Millennials socially construct …

Go to article

The Rwandan Genocide And Western Media: French, British, And American Press Coverage Of The Genocide Between April And July Of 1994, Candice Tyrrell Jan 2015

The Rwandan Genocide And Western Media: French, British, And American Press Coverage Of The Genocide Between April And July Of 1994, Candice Tyrrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Rwandan Genocide occurred between April and July of 1994. Within those four months, approximately a million Tutsi were brutally murdered by the Hutu in an effort to cleanse the country of a Tutsi presence. The genocide was the culmination of decades of unrest between the two groups created from Western influence under colonialism and post-colonial relationships. The international response to the genocide was scarce. While international intervention waned, the international media kept the genocide relevant in its publications. This thesis examines print media sources from the United States, Britain, and France. This thesis argues that the reporting of the …

Go to article

Finding Treasure: The Story Of A Micro-Budget Digital Film, Christopher Williamson Jan 2015

Finding Treasure: The Story Of A Micro-Budget Digital Film, Christopher Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Treasure is a feature-length narrative fictional film directed by Chris Williamson as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the School of Visual Arts and Design at the University of Central Florida. This thesis is a documentary record of the film production from concept to completion. In this thesis the concerns of authorship are explored from the perspective of the author as the executive producer, writer, and director of the film.

Go to article

Examining The Social Interactions Of Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders In A Virtual Environment, Jennifer Gallup Jan 2015

Examining The Social Interactions Of Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders In A Virtual Environment, Jennifer Gallup

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study examined the social interactions during online game play in a virtual environment for five young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who attended a large metropolitan university, enrolled in the first 60 credits of a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field of study. Given the evolution of technology and opportunities to socialize in virtual communities, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how young adults with ASD assimilate into new social opportunities that provide supports for extraneous variables such as face-to-face situations. As research begins to emerge on virtual environments there is little research addressed …

Go to article

Layers Of Identity & Privilege In Legislation: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Senate Bill 744, Jessica Hewkin Jan 2015

Layers Of Identity & Privilege In Legislation: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Senate Bill 744, Jessica Hewkin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines Senate Bill 744 (S.744) from the 113th Congress of the United States, and its findings will be used as a model to reveal problems in similar legislation. Senate Bill 744 was proposed by the 113th Congress in an attempt to accomplish bi-partisan immigration reform. The bill was viewed (and still is) as a comprehensive compromise, in that neither Democrats nor Republicans were completely satisfied with its result. The outcome was that the legislators who were involved in S.744*s creation were satisfied that something on the topic of immigration reform had been accomplished (the bill passed the Senate, …

Go to article

A Formative Evaluation Of A Technology-Mediated Alternative To Traditional Study Abroad, Wendy Howard Jan 2015

A Formative Evaluation Of A Technology-Mediated Alternative To Traditional Study Abroad, Wendy Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if a proposed technology-mediated intervention is a viable alternative to traditional study abroad for those who are unable to travel. While technology cannot reproduce the same experience of traveling abroad, the primary objective of this study was to determine if there is value in using Web conferencing technology to provide students with access to the same opportunity to interact with international experts in the field as their counterparts who were able to travel. This formative evaluation is the first in a series of iterative studies aimed at developing a viable, sustainable, …

Go to article

Propagation Failure In Discrete Inhomogeneous Medium Using A Caricature Of The Cubic, Elizabeth Lydon Jan 2015

Propagation Failure In Discrete Inhomogeneous Medium Using A Caricature Of The Cubic, Elizabeth Lydon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatially discrete Nagumo equations have widespread physical applications, including modeling electrical impulses traveling through a demyelinated axon, an environment typical in multiple scle- rosis. We construct steady-state, single front solutions by employing a piecewise linear reaction term. Using a combination of Jacobi-Operator theory and the Sherman-Morrison formula we de- rive exact solutions in the cases of homogeneous and inhomogeneous diffusion. Solutions exist only under certain conditions outlined in their construction. The range of parameter values that satisfy these conditions constitutes the interval of propagation failure, determining under what circumstances a front becomes pinned in the media. Our exact solutions represent …

Go to article

Selective Electro-Magnetic Absorbers Based On Metal-Dielectric-Metal Thin-Film Cavities, Janardan Nath Jan 2015

Selective Electro-Magnetic Absorbers Based On Metal-Dielectric-Metal Thin-Film Cavities, Janardan Nath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Efficient absorption of light is required for a large number of applications such as thermo-photovoltaics,thermal imaging, bio-sensing, thermal emitters, astronomy, and stealth technology. Strong light absorbers found in nature with high intrinsic losses such as carbon black, metal-black, and carbon nano-tubes etc. are bulky, not design-tunable and are hard to pattern for micro- and nano- devices. We developed thin-film, high performance absorbers in the visible, near-, mid-, long-wave - and far-IR region based on a 3 layer metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) structure. We fabricated a 3-layerMDMabsorber with large band-widths in the visible and near IR spectral range without any lithographic patterning. This …

Go to article

Essays On Marketing Strategies In The Context Of Interdependent Consumption, Minoo Talebi Ashoori Jan 2015

Essays On Marketing Strategies In The Context Of Interdependent Consumption, Minoo Talebi Ashoori

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays in which I study the impact of two interdependent consumer behaviors, fairness concerns and exclusivity seeking, on a companys marketing strategies and profits specifically in a context where it tries to expand its clientele with the objective of generating repeat purchases, for example by running deals on daily deal platforms. In the first essay, I examine the impact of customers fairness concerns on the profitability of a company running promotions on daily deal platforms. With the prevalence of social media and the internet, information about such targeted promotions can become available to all consumers …

Go to article

Principals' Perceptions And Self-Efficacy In Relation To School Security, Julian Jones Jan 2015

Principals' Perceptions And Self-Efficacy In Relation To School Security, Julian Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Principals in the nation's schools have been tasked with managing crisis incidents that may occur with students and others on their campuses on a daily basis. The purposes of this study were to determine the differences, if any, that existed in Central Florida public school principals' perceptions regarding school security, their perceived confidence to address critical crisis incidents on their campuses, their perceptions of the likelihood critical incidents would occur, their perceptions of interaction with law enforcement, the critical incidents they fear the most, and their perceptions of factors impacting the incidents they fear the most. Principal subgroup mean responses …

Go to article

Theoretical Study Of Laser Beam Quality And Pulse Shaping By Volume Bragg Gratings, Sergiy Kaim Jan 2015

Theoretical Study Of Laser Beam Quality And Pulse Shaping By Volume Bragg Gratings, Sergiy Kaim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The theory of stretching and compressing of short light pulses by the chirped volume Bragg gratings (CBG) is reviewed based on spectral decomposition of short pulses and on the wavelength-dependent coupled wave equations. The analytic theory of diffraction efficiency of a CBG with constant chirp and approximate theory of time delay dispersion are presented. Based on those, we performed comparison of the approximate analytic results with the exact numeric coupled-wave modeling. We also study theoretically various definitions of laser beam width in a given cross-section. Quality of the beam is characterized by the dimensionless beam propagation products (?x???_x)?? , which …

Go to article

Math Remediation For High School Freshmen, Kambiz Borhon Jan 2015

Math Remediation For High School Freshmen, Kambiz Borhon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an attempt to address the problem associated with a high percentage of freshman students, at a private Christian high school in Florida, who either fail Algebra 1 or pass with a low percentage rate. As a result, these students either retake Algebra 1 or continue on—being inadequately prepared to successfully pass Geometry and Algebra 2. This study concentrates on the student background knowledge of mathematics, which is among the causes associated with this problem, and proposes remediation. As such, a mathematics remediation course is designed and implemented for a select number of incoming freshmen. This study includes …

Go to article

Synthesis Of Fluorene-Based Derivatives, Characterization Of Optical Properties And Their Applications In Two-Photon Fluorescence Imaging And Photocatalysis, Grace Githaiga Jan 2015

Synthesis Of Fluorene-Based Derivatives, Characterization Of Optical Properties And Their Applications In Two-Photon Fluorescence Imaging And Photocatalysis, Grace Githaiga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The two-photon absorption (2PA) phenomenon has attracted attention from various fields ranging from chemistry and biology to optics and engineering. Two of the common NLO applications in which organic materials have been used are three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence imaging and optical power limiting. Two-photon absorbing materials are, therefore, in great demand to meet the needs of emerging technologies. Organic molecules show great promise to meet this need as they can be customized through molecular engineering, and as the development of two-photon materials that suit practical application intensifies, so does research to meet this need. However, there remains some uncertainty in the …

Go to article

A Socio-Economic Assessment Of Marine Turtle Eco-Tourism, Kendra Cope Jan 2015

A Socio-Economic Assessment Of Marine Turtle Eco-Tourism, Kendra Cope

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Marine turtles have historically contributed to economic activity through consumptive harvest for food, tools, and decorative objects. Only recently have they begun to benefit humans economically through non-consumptive roles, primarily as a focal point of educational eco-tourism. In recent years, the annual number of turtle walks conducted around the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR) has risen. This expansion contributed to a statistically significant increase in attendance from 2,162 in 2001 to 3,047 participants in 2014. I examined the regional economic impacts of marine turtle eco-tourism around the ACNWR using social surveys and an economic impact analysis tool. IMPLAN, an …

Go to article

Making Waves, Mixing Colors, And Using Mirrors: The Self-Regulated Learning Support Features And Procedural Rhetoric Of Three Whole-Body Educational Games, Emily Johnson Jan 2015

Making Waves, Mixing Colors, And Using Mirrors: The Self-Regulated Learning Support Features And Procedural Rhetoric Of Three Whole-Body Educational Games, Emily Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the question, "How can the procedural rhetoric of three whole-body educational games improve the understanding of self-regulated learning with digital technology?" It explores three whole-body educational games (WBEGs) using a quantitative study, a case study, and analyses of their procedural rhetoric to better understand the roles these types of games can have in teaching digital literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. The three WBEGs, Waves, Color Mixer, and Light and Mirrors, are each intended to teach science concepts to players. These games are similarly structured in that they all invite players to immerse themselves in the game …

Go to article

Conservation Laws And Electromagnetic Interactions, Veerachart Kajorndejnukul Jan 2015

Conservation Laws And Electromagnetic Interactions, Veerachart Kajorndejnukul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aside from energy, light carries linear and angular momenta that can be transferred to matter. The interaction between light and matter is governed by conservation laws that can manifest themselves as mechanical effects acting on both matter and light waves. This interaction permits remote, precise, and noninvasive manipulation and sensing at microscopic levels. In this dissertation, we demonstrated for the first time a complete set of opto-mechanical effects that are based on nonconservative forces and act at the interface between dielectric media. Without structuring the light field, forward action is provided by the conventional radiation pressure while a backward movement …

Go to article

The Interspecies Family: Attitudes And Narratives, Nicole Owens Jan 2015

The Interspecies Family: Attitudes And Narratives, Nicole Owens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Families are conceptualized and accomplished in increasingly diverse ways in the 21st century. A constructionist framework was utilized to examine a widespread contemporary family form, the interspecies family. This mixed-method approach relied on both quantitative survey data and qualitative interview data. First, survey data from the 2006 Constructing the Family Survey were analyzed to understand who in America counts pets as family. Many social demographics were associated and predicted counting pets as family but gender was one of the strongest associations. However, marital status moderated the relationship between gender and counting pets as family at a statically significant level. Men …

Go to article

Sage Illusionists: A Historical Study Using Illusionists As A Reflection Of Mass Entertainment, Popular Culture, Anf Change During The Late Nineteenth Century, Clayton Phillips Jan 2015

Sage Illusionists: A Historical Study Using Illusionists As A Reflection Of Mass Entertainment, Popular Culture, Anf Change During The Late Nineteenth Century, Clayton Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By the late nineteenth and early twenty century both the United States and Europe were experiencing massive shifts in social organization, social attitudes, and global influence due to the effects of the industrial revolution and imperialistic expansion. This birth of a public sphere and the mass entertainment industry was related to a blurring of the lines between traditional social classes. Mass entertainment's growth was directly related to the need to attract large audiences with entertainment that appealed in some way to a broad spectrum of the populace. At the same time, stage illusionists or magicians were one of the most …

Go to article

Photon Statistics In Disordered Lattices, Hasan Kondakci Jan 2015

Photon Statistics In Disordered Lattices, Hasan Kondakci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Propagation of coherent waves through disordered media, whether optical, acoustic, or radio waves, results in a spatially redistributed random intensity pattern known as speckle -- a statistical phenomenon. The subject of this dissertation is the statistics of monochromatic coherent light traversing disordered photonic lattices and its dependence on the disorder class, the level of disorder and the excitation configuration at the input. Throughout the dissertation, two disorder classes are considered, namely, diagonal and off-diagonal disorders. The latter exhibits disorder-immune chiral symmetry -- the appearance of the eigenmodes in skew-symmetric pairs and the corresponding eigenvalues in opposite signs. When a disordered …

Go to article

An Applied Organizational Analysis Of School Factors Affecting Technology Integration Within The Context Of Literacy Instruction, D'Ann Rawlinson Jan 2015

An Applied Organizational Analysis Of School Factors Affecting Technology Integration Within The Context Of Literacy Instruction, D'Ann Rawlinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this Dissertation in Practice was to analyze the organizational factors affecting technology integration within the context of literacy instruction at a single school site that was preparing to implement a 1:1 mobile device initiative in all K-5 classrooms the following academic year. This was achieved through conducting an organizational analysis using a multi-frame model developed by Bolman and Deal (2008). This study used a convergent parallel mixed methods research design consisting of teacher and administrator interviews, a quantitative and qualitative survey, and classroom observational data. One main evaluation question was designed to frame this organizational analysis: What …

Go to article

Quantum Chemical Studies For The Engineering Of Metal Organic Materials, Hector Javier Rivera Jacquez Jan 2015

Quantum Chemical Studies For The Engineering Of Metal Organic Materials, Hector Javier Rivera Jacquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metal Organic Materials (MOM) are composed of transition metal ions as connectors and organic ligands as linkers. MOMs have been found to have high porosity, catalytic, and optical properties. Here we study the gas adsorption, color change, and non-linear optical properties of MOMs. These properties can be predicted using theoretical methods, and the results may provide experimentalists with guidance for rational design and engineering of novel MOMs. The theory levels used include semi-empirical quantum mechanical calculations with the PM7 Hamiltonian and, Density Functional Theory (DFT) to predict the geometry and electronic structure of the ground state, and Time Dependent DFT …

Go to article

African American Head Football Coaches At Division 1 Fbs Schools: A Qualitative Study On Turning Points, Thaddeus Rivers Jan 2015

African American Head Football Coaches At Division 1 Fbs Schools: A Qualitative Study On Turning Points, Thaddeus Rivers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation was centered on how the theory 'turning points' explained African American coaches ascension to Head Football Coach at a NCAA Division I FBS school. This work (1) identified traits and characteristics coaches felt they needed in order to become a head coach and (2) described the significant events and people (turning points) in their lives that have influenced their career. This study employed a Constant Comparative method in which participants answered interview questions designed for them to elaborate on their educational and athletic careers, and those events and people who were major influences in their careers. Commonalities and …

Go to article

The Helping Professional Wellness Discrepancy Scale (Hpwds): Development And Validation, Ashley Blount Jan 2015

The Helping Professional Wellness Discrepancy Scale (Hpwds): Development And Validation, Ashley Blount

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wellness is an integral component of the helping professions (Myers & Sweeney, 2005; Witmer, 1985). Specifically, wellness is included in ethical codes, suggestions for practice, and codes of conduct throughout counseling, psychology, and social work fields (see American Counseling Association Code of Ethics, 2014; American Psychological Association Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, 2010; National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics, 1996). Even so, wellness in helping professionals is a difficult construct to measure. Thus, the purpose of the research investigation was to develop the Helping Professional Wellness Discrepancy Scale (HPWDS) and examine the psychometric features of …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last