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

Digital Commons Network™

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

2016

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 59461 - 59490 of 59774

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Embodied Mimicry: Lightening Black Bodies In The Visual Rhetoric Of Popular 20th Century Black Media, Janéa Judge-Hemans Jan 2016

Embodied Mimicry: Lightening Black Bodies In The Visual Rhetoric Of Popular 20th Century Black Media, Janéa Judge-Hemans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This study analyzes various forms of visual and textual rhetoric found in popular black-owned print media from 1900-1970, including: beauty product advertisements, magazine cover photography and feature articles in order to contribute to a rhetorical history of color bias within the African-American community. The imagery included here validated and encouraged the transformation and lightening of African-American bodies through what I call embodied mimicry in order to achieve dominance within the racial group and a semblance of acceptance outside of it. Mimicry of white societal standards by African-Americans including: formatting of print media, circulation of beauty ads and physical embodiment of …

Go to article

Establishing The Bondmother: Examining The Categorization Of Maternal Figures In Toni Morrison’S Beloved And Paradise, Ashely Tisdale Jan 2016

Establishing The Bondmother: Examining The Categorization Of Maternal Figures In Toni Morrison’S Beloved And Paradise, Ashely Tisdale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Literary scholars have been examining and recreating the experiences of “bonded” female characters within Toni Morrison’s novels for decades. However, the distinct experiences of these enslaved women, that are also mothers have not been astutely examined by scholars and deserves more attention. My thesis fleshes out the characterization of several of Morrison’s bonded-mothers and identifies them as a part of a developing controlling image and theory, called the bondmother. Situating these characters within this category allows readers to trace their journeys towards freedom and personal redemption. This character tracing will occur by examining the following Toni Morrison novels: Beloved (1987) …

Go to article

Entropic Considerations Of Efficiency In The West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures Market, Ryan Sagul Jan 2016

Entropic Considerations Of Efficiency In The West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures Market, Ryan Sagul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

For the last fifty years, the efficient market hypothesis has been the central pillar of economic thought and touted by all, despite Sanford Grossman’ and Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz’ objection in 1980. Andrew Lo updated the efficient market hypothesis in 2004 to reconcile irrational human behavior and cold, calculating automatons. This thesis utilizes 33 years of oil futures, GARCH regressions, and the Jensen-Shannon informational criteria to provide extensive empirical objections to informational efficiency. The results demonstrate continuously inefficient oil future markets which exhibit decreased informational efficiency during recessionary periods, advocating the adaptive market hypothesis over the efficient market hypothesis.

Go to article

Evaluation Of Chloride Threshold For Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Composited In Aggressively Corrosive Environments, Dietrich H. Vogel Jan 2016

Evaluation Of Chloride Threshold For Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Composited In Aggressively Corrosive Environments, Dietrich H. Vogel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Highway drainage pipes utilize concrete reinforced with steel wire to help mitigate water, earth, and traffic loads. Drainage pipes reinforced with zinc electroplated steel fibers offer a lower steel alternative to traditional steel wire cage reinforcements. The objective of the thesis research was to determine the physical and electrochemical characteristics of zinc electroplated steel fiber corrosion propagation. Experimental programs include: Fracture analysis of zinc electroplated steel fibers embedded in dry-cast concrete pipes exposed to varying chloride concentrations; Visual analysis of zinc electroplated steel fibers embedded in concrete exposed to varying chloride concentrations; Electrochemical analysis of zinc electroplated steel fibers embedded …

Go to article

Factors Related To The Experience Of Situations: Time Of Day, Gender, And Employment Status, Nicolas A. Brown Jan 2016

Factors Related To The Experience Of Situations: Time Of Day, Gender, And Employment Status, Nicolas A. Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Throughout the course of a day, individuals experience a number of different situations that affect how they think, feel, and behave. However, until recently, there was little research aimed at describing what factors may be related to the psychological properties of situations in individuals' everyday lives. Recent theoretical (e.g., the Situational Eight DIAMONDS) and methodological (e.g., experience sampling, Day Reconstruction Method) advances make the present research tractable. Based on the extant literature, three studies, employing different methodologies, were designed to explore whether three specific factors are related to the experience of situations: time of day, gender, and employment status. Study …

Go to article

Foam Fighting: Technology And Culture, David Wichinsky Jan 2016

Foam Fighting: Technology And Culture, David Wichinsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Foam fighting is a form of Live Action Role Playing (LARP) that focuses on mock combat and recreational battle, with role-playing aspects taking a less prominent role. It is sometimes referred to as a “poor man’s martial art”.While there does not appear to be any clear documentation concerning the origins, research on foam fighting suggests the sport began in Maryland in the 1970’s and slowly spread throughout the United States. This research will illustrate how the sport of foam fighting demands a level of critical thinking that takes both the participant and audience beyond the sight of a swinging stick. …

Go to article

Food Buzzwords: Understanding How Schemas Of Proper Dieting Are Formed, Sacha Franklin-Jeune Jan 2016

Food Buzzwords: Understanding How Schemas Of Proper Dieting Are Formed, Sacha Franklin-Jeune

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

In the modern United States, the concept of food has become as much of a social phenomenon as it is a biological need. The process of eating has become highly structured into a system of communication. Food terms used to share ideas are referred to as food buzzwords, terms rife with additional meanings whose values are continuously debated, discussed, and altered. Such terminology has swayed how middle-class Americans interpret the proper status quo of food consumption and production. This thesis analyzes how middle-class Americans form their view of a proper diet based on their understanding of food buzzwords and other …

Go to article

Gender, Myth, And Warfare: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Women Warriors, Anne-Louise Lyttle Boomer Jan 2016

Gender, Myth, And Warfare: A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of Women Warriors, Anne-Louise Lyttle Boomer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

A combination of cross-cultural and symbolic methodologies suggests that women warriors occur in societies where there is both an emphasis on the sacred feminine that allows women greater access to positions of power and authority (as per Peggy Sanday) and where marital residency rules permit female fighters (following David B. Adams´s theory on women warriors). While neither theory can stand alone in explaining the existence of women warriors, when combined both theories give a solid picture of societies that allow for female combatants. In this paper I propose that by combining Sanday’s work on female power and Adams’s work on …

Go to article

Fostering Creativity Using Special Library Collections: A Case Study Of The Arthur & Mata Jaffe Center For The Book Arts, Andrew D. Binder Jan 2016

Fostering Creativity Using Special Library Collections: A Case Study Of The Arthur & Mata Jaffe Center For The Book Arts, Andrew D. Binder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This dissertation examines the Arthur & Mata Jaffe Center for the Book Arts (JCBA) at Florida Atlantic University, focusing on creativity. Sixteen artists whose artwork is collected by the center were chosen to provide an overview of the creative process of book artists: Susan Allix, Julie Chen, Béatrice Coron, Johanna Drucker, Timothy Ely, Karen Hanmer, Linda K. Johnson, Marie Marcano, Bea Nettles, Matthew Reinhart, Robert Sabuda, Susan Joy Share, Keith Smith, Beth Thielen, Carol Todaro, and Marshall Weber. The artists and the JCBA were selected for this study not only because these artists‘ books provide a unique opportunity to explore …

Go to article

Going On The Grid: Secondary Teachers’ Implementation Of Mobile Handheld Devices As Instructional Tools, Allison S. Berger Jan 2016

Going On The Grid: Secondary Teachers’ Implementation Of Mobile Handheld Devices As Instructional Tools, Allison S. Berger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This mixed methods study examined secondary teachers’ technology selfefficacy, their professional development activities regarding mobile handheld devices, and how those activities affect their use of mobile devices as instructional tools. Additionally, this study also explored teachers’ perceptions of other factors that act as barriers or enablers to their use of such devices. The study included 104 middle and high school teachers who taught in a large, urban public school district in the Southeastern United States. Data were collected through the administration of an electronic survey and semi-structured interviews. The researcher utilized multiple regression and moderator analyses, as well as qualitative …

Go to article

From Farm To Market: The Political Economy Of The Antebellum American West, Matthew Salcito Jan 2016

From Farm To Market: The Political Economy Of The Antebellum American West, Matthew Salcito

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This thesis examines the dynamic change the market revolution had on social and cultural institutions in the American West. Specifically, it investigates how market forces influenced rural life patterns for farmers, urban mercantile culture and regional commercial interests. Davenport, Iowa is the focus for the narrative’s hinge, as this midsized western marketplace represented a link between its farmers and the regional markets in Chicago. This project uses wheat and the prairie region in antebellum Iowa and Illinois as a case study and examines the cultural and social development of farmers and merchants in the marketplace. Following wheat from farm to …

Go to article

Florida University Faculty Compensation: Market Competitive Or Not?, Lori Allen Ford Jan 2016

Florida University Faculty Compensation: Market Competitive Or Not?, Lori Allen Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The most important asset of any organization is its people (Danish & Usman, 2010). Whatever the market segment, they are the driving force behind creating and delivering on the organization’s strategic and financial objectives. The ability to attract, retain and motivate the necessary workforce, through use of financial rewards, is a main determinant in the degree to which these objectives are met (Fong & Tosi, 2007; Gomez- Mejia & Balkin, 1992b; Newman, Gerhart, & Milkovich, 2016). While there are many approaches to pay strategy, a key aspect, and the focus of this dissertation, is the market positioning of cash compensation. …

Go to article

Hey God, It’S Me: Development And Initial Validation Of The Personal Prayer Content Scale, Lucas D. Schipper Jan 2016

Hey God, It’S Me: Development And Initial Validation Of The Personal Prayer Content Scale, Lucas D. Schipper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

I present the development and initial validation a new measure designed to assess specific personal prayer content I used feedback from men and women, along with a review of the relevant literature, to identify specific prayer content for inclusion in the Personal Prayer Content Scale (PPCS) (Study 1) I administered the PPCS to a sample of participants from southeast Florida and southeast Michigan allowing for a cross-national investigation of the specific content of the thoughts that individuals privately direct towards a god, gods, or god-like entity (Study 2) I compared men’s and women’s responses (Study 3) and responses between Christians …

Go to article

Here, Let Me Show You: The Use Of Senior Exhibitions In Conjunction With Traditional Assessments, Christopher Mimbs Jan 2016

Here, Let Me Show You: The Use Of Senior Exhibitions In Conjunction With Traditional Assessments, Christopher Mimbs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This case study examined how senior exhibitions function in a progressive educational environment that employs traditional assessments. The researcher interviewed 18 students and three faculty members of The Crefeld School about the Creative Expression, one of the 14 exhibitions that students are required to complete for graduation. The researcher conducted a document analysis and content analysis of rubrics for two essays and the Creative Expression. The researcher conducted a survey of student participants and a questionnaire to assess students’ perceptions of authenticity. The researcher observed three students present their Creative Expression in front of faculty, students, and family. The researcher …

Go to article

Haunted Boundaries: Ghost Stories In Isolationist Japan, Travis Finch Jan 2016

Haunted Boundaries: Ghost Stories In Isolationist Japan, Travis Finch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

One of the most popular forms of literature in Japan is that of “kaidan.,” literally meaning “strange story,” during the Edo period, but over time “kaidan” has come to specifically mean stories of “yūrei,” or “Japanese ghosts.” Many Western academic studies concerning kaidan thus far are concerned with the genre’s shift from religious didactics to secular entertainment. This is an important evolution to keep in conversation with this project; However, this study will argue that ghosts work as Edo symbols for failing boundaries within an isolationist society. Two of the main texts in this project are translations by Lafcadio Hearn, …

Go to article

Frames Trump Facts, Joshua David Calhoun Jan 2016

Frames Trump Facts, Joshua David Calhoun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This thesis investigates the discourse patterns of Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Jeb Bush during the Republican primary campaign from August 2015 through January 2016. The goal of this study is to identify differences among the candidates’ discourse patterns, particularly those distinct to the discourse style of Donald Trump, on the basis of a newly compiled corpus from their respective debates and speeches. This corpus analysis reveals differences in terms of readability and lexical choice that distinguish the speech style of Donald Trump from Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio and identifies metaphors utilized by Donald Trump. Drawing heavily from the …

Go to article

Healing Transcendence: Social Media Use By Persons In The Transplant Journey, Valarie S. Grumme Jan 2016

Healing Transcendence: Social Media Use By Persons In The Transplant Journey, Valarie S. Grumme

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

An increasing number of individuals are looking for health information, interacting with health care providers, and participating in health-related online support groups The virtual landscape of the internet offers the opportunity for individuals to establish contact and relationships with persons having similar health concerns anywhere, anytime The phenomenon of health-related social media use generated an interest in why persons in the transplant journey chose to participate in an online support community, how they interacted and made use of the online community, and how this knowledge could assist nursing in improving care for this growing population A six month sample of …

Go to article

Health Challenges Of Family Members In End Of Life Situations, Janet Sopcheck Jan 2016

Health Challenges Of Family Members In End Of Life Situations, Janet Sopcheck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The growing older adult population, their age-related morbidities, and lifelimiting chronic illnesses increase the demand for quality yet cost-effective end of life (EOL) care. Losing a loved one creates emotional turmoil, heightened uneasiness, and EOL uncertainties for family members. Understanding the complex needs of family members and supportive actions deemed most significant to them can guide nurses to enhance EOL care, encouraging palliation and peaceful death experiences. This study used a qualitative descriptive exploratory design guided by story theory methodology to explore the dimensions of the health challenge of losing a loved one who had been in an acute care …

Go to article

Implementation Of The Ieee 1609.2 Wave Security Services Standard, Chad Christopher Jr Mandy Jan 2016

Implementation Of The Ieee 1609.2 Wave Security Services Standard, Chad Christopher Jr Mandy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This work presents the implementation of the the IEEE 1609.2 WAVE Security Services Standard. This implementation provides the ability to generate a message signature, along with the capability to verify that signature for wave short messages transmitted over an unsecured medium. Only the original sender of the message can sign it, allowing for the authentication of a message to be checked. As hashing is used during the generation and verification of signatures, message integrity can be verified because a failed signature verification is a result of a compromised message. Also provided is the ability to encrypt and decrypt messages using …

Go to article

High Resolution Population Distribution Estimates For Improved Decision Making, With A Case Study Of Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability In Boca Raton, Florida, Hannes Moritz Ziegler Jan 2016

High Resolution Population Distribution Estimates For Improved Decision Making, With A Case Study Of Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability In Boca Raton, Florida, Hannes Moritz Ziegler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Planners and managers often rely on coarse population distribution data from the census for addressing various social, economic, and environmental problems. In the analysis of physical vulnerabilities to sea-level rise, census units such as blocks or block groups are coarse relative to the required decision-making application. This study explores the benefits offered from integrating image classification and dasymetric mapping at the household level to provide detailed small area population estimates at the scale of residential buildings. In a case study of Boca Raton, FL, a sea-level rise inundation grid based on mapping methods by NOAA is overlaid on the highly …

Go to article

Implementations Of The Dtm, Dadcq And Slab Vanet Broadcast Protocols For The Ns-3 Simulator, Ahmed M. Alwakeel Jan 2016

Implementations Of The Dtm, Dadcq And Slab Vanet Broadcast Protocols For The Ns-3 Simulator, Ahmed M. Alwakeel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This work presents the implementations of three adaptive broadcast protocols for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANET) using the Network Simulator 3 (Ns-3). Performing real life tests for VANET protocols is very costly and risky, so simulation becomes a viable alternative technique. Ns-3 is one of the most advanced open source network simulators. Yet Ns-3 lacks implementations of broadcast protocols for VANET. We first implement the Distance to Mean (DTM) protocol, which uses the distance to mean to determine if a node should rebroadcast or not. We then implement the Distribution-Adaptive Distance with Channel Quality (DADCQ) protocol, which uses node distribution, …

Go to article

How Interpersonal Coordination Changes The Self: Theory, Experiment, And Adaptive Hkb Model Of Social Memory, Craig A. Nordham Jan 2016

How Interpersonal Coordination Changes The Self: Theory, Experiment, And Adaptive Hkb Model Of Social Memory, Craig A. Nordham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

How one behaves after interacting with a friend may not be the same as before the interaction began What factors a ect the formation of social interactions between people and, once formed, how do social interactions leave lasting changes on individual behavior? In this dissertation, a thorough review and conceptual synthesis is provided Major features of coordination dynamics are demonstrated with examples from both the intrapersonal and interpersonal coordination literature that are interpreted via a conceptual scheme, the causal loops of coordination dynamics An empirical, behavioral study of interpersonal coordination was conducted to determine which spontaneous patterns of coordination formed …

Go to article

Implementation Of A Vanet Geo-Fence Based Adaptive Traffic Light Control Scheme, Alain D. Edwards Jan 2016

Implementation Of A Vanet Geo-Fence Based Adaptive Traffic Light Control Scheme, Alain D. Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

In this thesis we extend the VANET-based approach to counting vehicles at a traffic light by implementing a Geo-fence Based Vehicle Counting Algorithm which supports the use of RFID technology. This implementation utilizes the concept of geo-fencing to create a Zone of Interest (ZOI) that sections off a roadway that is relevant to a traffic intersection. All vehicles in this ZOI are used to determine the required length of the green-cycle time. By utilizing vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technologies, we broadcast beacons that are propagated to all vehicles in the ZOI from the infrastructure which in this case is …

Go to article

Human Trafficking As A Brand Within The Framework Of Human Rights: Case Studies In The U.S, Tam Mai Jan 2016

Human Trafficking As A Brand Within The Framework Of Human Rights: Case Studies In The U.S, Tam Mai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Recent concern in the United States about human trafficking has been directed primarily on the foreign victims that are brought into the United States rather than on U.S. citizenship who become involved. However, the topic has broadened and has significant impact on the daily lives of U.S citizens. Taking a human rights perspective, this dissertation explores how human trafficking has been used as a “brand” to achieve political and/or economic objectives. Human trafficking has taken away the human rights for individuals and threatens their security. This dissertation is grounded in Critical Theory and uses narrative analysis as a methodological framework. …

Go to article

Improving The Mechanical Properties Of Nano-Hydroxyapatite, Suraj P. Khanal Jan 2016

Improving The Mechanical Properties Of Nano-Hydroxyapatite, Suraj P. Khanal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Hydroxyapatite (HAp) is an ideal bioactive material that is used in orthopedics. Chemical composition and crystal structure properties of HAp are similar to the natural bone hence it promotes bone growth. However, its mechanical properties of synthetic HAp are not sufficient for major load-bearing bone replacement. The potential of improving the mechanical properties of synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAp) by incorporating carboxyl functionalized single walled carbon nanotubes (CfSWCNT) and polymerized ɛ-caprolactam (nylon) is studied. The fracture toughness, tensile strength, Young’s modulus, stiffness and fracture energy were studied for a series of HAp samples with CfSWCNT concentrations varying from 0 to 1.5 wt. …

Go to article

Influence Of Median Grain Size Ratio On The Strength And Liquefaction Potential Of Loose Granular Fills, Spencer Waganaar Jan 2016

Influence Of Median Grain Size Ratio On The Strength And Liquefaction Potential Of Loose Granular Fills, Spencer Waganaar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The characterization of silty soils is usually designated by the percentage of silt contained within the soil matrix, along with the soil’s void ratio, which is used to describe the soil’s current state. The use of these parameters to assess a soil’s strength and undrained behavior is limited when finer material is contained within the soil. Therefore, additional parameters must be considered in order to correctly assess the strength and liquefaction potential of silty soils. These additional parameters include the skeleton void ratio, equivalent void ratio and granulometric factors. The current research investigates the influence of granulometric parameters, specifically the …

Go to article

Informational Aspects Of Audiovisual Identity Matching, Lauren Wood Mavica Jan 2016

Informational Aspects Of Audiovisual Identity Matching, Lauren Wood Mavica

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

In this study, we investigated what informational aspects of faces could account for the ability to match an individual’s face to their voice, using only static images. In each of the first six experiments, we simultaneously presented one voice recording along with two manipulated images of faces (e.g. top half of the face, bottom half of the face, etc.), a target face and distractor face. The participant’s task was to choose which of the images they thought belonged to the same individual as the voice recording. The voices remained un-manipulated. In Experiment 7 we used eye tracking in order to …

Go to article

Investigating Approaches To Media Literacy: An Analysis Of Media Literacy Organizations, Michael Francis Jan 2016

Investigating Approaches To Media Literacy: An Analysis Of Media Literacy Organizations, Michael Francis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Media literacy is a competency needed for success in the 21st century yet a clear purpose does not exist that is useful in curriculum design. The purpose of this study was to investigate a combined (eclectic) approach to media literacy education according to selected international media literacy organizations. Determining an eclectic approach from subject area experts will be useful in designing and integrating media literacy curriculum. Methodologically, this study was a qualitative content analysis and is thematic in nature using a constant comparative method of analysis. Supporting frameworks were established through standards based curriculum development and Schwab’s (1969, 1971, 1973, …

Go to article

Investigation Of Mathematical Modeling For The General Treatment Of Glioblastoma, Dharma Raj Khatiwada Jan 2016

Investigation Of Mathematical Modeling For The General Treatment Of Glioblastoma, Dharma Raj Khatiwada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The purpose of this research is to validate various forms of mathematical modeling of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) expressed as differential equations, numerically. The first work was involved in the numerical solution of the reaction-convection model, efficacy of which is expressed in terms of survival time. It was calculated using simple numerical scheme for the standard-of-care treatment in clinics which includes surgery followed by the radiation and chemotherapy. Survival time using all treatment options increased significantly to 57 weeks compared to that of surgery close to 14 weeks. It was also observed that survival time increased significantly to 90 weeks if …

Go to article

Intelligent Supervisory Switching Control Of Unmanned Surface Vehicles, Ivan Rodrigues Bertaska Jan 2016

Intelligent Supervisory Switching Control Of Unmanned Surface Vehicles, Ivan Rodrigues Bertaska

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

novel approach to extend the decision-making capabilities of unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) is presented in this work. A multi-objective framework is described where separate controllers command different behaviors according to a desired trajectory. Three behaviors are examined – transiting, station-keeping and reversing. Given the desired trajectory, the vehicle is able to autonomously recognize which behavior best suits a portion of the trajectory. The USV uses a combination of a supervisory switching control structure and a reinforcement learning algorithm to create a hybrid deliberative and reactive approach to switch between controllers and actions. Reinforcement learning provides a deliberative method to create …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last