Digital Commons Network^™

Public Opinion Of The Sec’S Proposal For Mandatory Climate Disclosures, Isaac Blanchette

Honors Theses and Capstones

In 2022, the Security and Exchange Commission created a proposal that would make climate risk disclosures mandatory for publicly traded companies. This paper aims to understand how Congress is likely to vote on the proposal as well as how students at the University of New Hampshire perceive the proposal. Using publicly available comment letters made by members of Congress in response to the proposal and extrapolating the responses of the other representatives, it is unlikely that the proposal will have enough support to be ratified. However, a survey conducted with students at the University of New Hampshire showed that the …

“I'M Kind Of A Big Deal In This Industry:” How Killing Eve’S Villanelle Subverts The Femme Fatale Archetype, Molly Kent

Honors Theses and Capstones

From the instant Catherine Tramell stepped on screen with shaven, glossy legs and a perfectly curled, bouncy, blonde bob, Basic Instinct (1992) became a cult classic, centered around the dangerous and seductive femme fatale who makes the movie tick. Nearly 25 years later, a new monstress steps on screen as a suited, quirky, slicked-back assassin with a penchant for curly-haired women and a destiny to reform the femme fatale trope: Villanelle of Killing Eve.

The co-lead and resident femme fatale of Killing Eve, Villanelle, subverts the traditional role of the femme fatale in a decentering of the patriarchy …

Assessing Parental Conversational Overlap In A Museum Setting And Its Correlation With Child Language Skills, Madison Gould

Honors Theses and Capstones

Research has identified the importance of quality interactions with parents, caregivers, and peers in the promotion of language acquisition. We question how certain aspects of parental language, primarily repetition, expansion, and extension, correlate with child language skills. There is limited research available regarding the impact of conversational overlap on a child’s language development at a singular time point, with most studies being longitudinal, especially when assessing conversations between children and their caregivers in different settings, such as a museum exhibit. Our findings suggest that children need less parental recasting as they age and as their language skills are bolstered.

Odd Bedfellows & Marriage Of Necessity: Public Health And Politics In American Federalism, Gabriella Victoria Chianese

Honors Theses and Capstones

In the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, while the public disagrees over mask mandates, required vaccinations, and social distancing, it seems like one common sentiment exists – a distaste for the odd bedfellows of politics and public health. There are those who cry for the compartmentalization of the science of public health and the art of politics to rectify this situation. In the wake of so much confusion and chaos, it is not unjustified to demand the depoliticization of public health; however, this response is unrealistic given the modern political climate, demonstrates a narrow understanding of the …

Understanding Castration Anxiety Through Contemporary Art And Feminism, Ember J. Nevins

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

N-Gram Text Classification On Standard Croatian, Bosnian And Serbian, Kegan Messmer

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study attempts to use three different kinds of n-gram text classification models to differentiate the standard forms of Croatian, Bosnian, and Serbian. These three languages, along with Montenegrin, were once considered one language, collectively termed “Serbo-Croatian”. These languages share a common South Slavic ancestry, and there is an argument to be made that their novel status as distinct languages is due to non-linguistic factors, such as culture and politics. This study uses 300,000 sentences from each language, sourced from Wikipedia pages written in the standard forms of each language. Three different classifiers were used: one unigram, one bigram, and …

Antitrust Concerns Vis-A-Vis Disruptive Innovation – Takeaways For Competition Commission Of India, Sudhanshu Kumar, Garima Gupta

Articles

In the era of innovation, market dynamics have evolved demanding a more nuanced analysis of market competition. Innovation in digital economy does promise new products and services but it can be an amiable reality only if it is directed towards ensuring consumer welfare and a free markets space for players. Since digital markets attract innovators and disruptors, it is important for antitrust regulators to differentiate between efforts directed towards value-creation and ones aimed at destroying or impeding the same. This paper aims at theorizing around the idea of ‘disruptive innovation’ and its implications for competition policy for India. The paper …

Kleine-Levin Syndrome: Investigating The Immuno-Reactivity Of Patient Sera Towards Various Brain Areas, Michael C. Hamper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Kleine-Levin Syndrome (KLS) is an extremely rare neurological disorder characterized by episodes of uncontrollable hypersomnia and various cognitive and behavioral abnormalities. There is neither a definitive etiology nor definite treatment modalities. Immunological studies for this condition are extremely limited, and this present study aims to investigate a potential autoimmune mechanism that underlies KLS. To achieve this, western blot and dot-blot assays analyzed the immunoreactivity of patients and control sera towards various brain tissue areas. Western blot did not show immunoreactivity with IgG-depleted brain tissue lysate. However, dot-blot assays revealed a significantly greater level of immunoreactivity with KLS patient sera towards …

Investigating And Improving Fairness And Bias In Machine Learning Models For Dermatology, Adam Corbin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have significantly improved their application in dermatology. However, bias issues in AI systems can result in missed diagnoses and disparities in healthcare, especially for individuals with different skin types. This dissertation aims to investigate and improve the fairness and bias in machine learning models for dermatology by evaluating and enhancing their performance across different Fitzpatrick skin types. The technical contributions of the dissertation include generating metadata for Fitzpatrick Skin Type using Individual Typology Angle; outlining best practices for Explainable AI (XAI) and the use of colormaps; developing and enhancing ML models …

Lexical Obsolescence In Late Middle English: A Cognitive Linguistic Investigation, Rachel L. Harrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Lexical obsolescence is a topic whose study spans centuries, and yet it is not well-understood. Variously termed lexical mortality, lexical death, and lexical loss, among other names, the phenomenon has been described as both a product and a process, but the scholarship on how and why expressions go out of use has, until recently, been sporadic and sparse. The last few years have seen attempts to situate obsolescence among other processes of language change, but these have mostly focused on obsolescing constructions in modern languages. The present study, by contrast, investigates words that went obsolete in Late Middle English, suggesting …

Long-Term National & Regional Beach Nourishment Trends & Drivers: Implications For Coastal Resilience, Jyothirmayi Palaparthi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

With the escalating challenges posed by global warming, sea-level rise, and natural disasters like hurricanes and tropical storms, coastal erosion has become a critical issue along the US coasts. The economic significance of U.S. coastlines, multitude of services offered by these coastal areas, underscores the critical importance of addressing the threats posed by both natural and human-induced factors that lead to erosion and coastal loss. To enhance future planning and to promote resilience of these invaluable coastal resources, it is essential to gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategies employed to mitigate coastal erosion in response to the diverse array …

Limited Partner Esg Strategies And Esg Approaches By Private Equity Funds, Robert G. Buehler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This study utilized environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data to analyze how institutional investors' strategies relate to the approaches of the private equity (PE) funds they invest in. Using limited partner (LP) investor and general partner (GP) PE fund data from Preqin, I created ESG scores for both LP and PE funds. Ordinary least-squares regression showed a significant, positive relationship between LP/GP ESG strategies. However, the relationship became negative and significant when firm-, fund-, and country-level controls were added. This misalignment between statements and action, often called greenwashing, suggests that firms are driven to ESG reporting due to external factors …

Methods For Quantifying Mollusk Predation By Durophagous Predators, Natalia K. Jaworski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

By regulating the abundance of prey populations, predators can directly and indirectly influence food web interactions in ways that influence ecosystem function. Predator functional responses quantify how predator foraging rate changes with prey abundance. Due to the large numbers of individuals needed for these experiments, most studies are conducted on small, abundant taxa. Consequently, we know relatively little about the functional responses of many marine taxa, especially those that are large and highly mobile. We present a novel method for studying predator foraging behaviors by integrating two innovative approaches: passive acoustics to document the occurrence of underwater predation events in …

Locating The Village Tequesta Using Chi-Square Analysis, Justin Thai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The Miami Circle (8DA12) is a site in downtown Miami, Florida with a unique prehistoric feature. The feature is made up of small post holes which reflect a larger patterned arrangement that resembles a circle, most probably the remnants of a prehistoric structure. The Miami Circle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 and declared a National Historic Landmark on January 16, 2009. The site has been linked to the Tequesta Indians. This project utilized chi-square ��2 test of independence statistical analytical methods using data obtained from the Miami Circle site and neighboring sites to determine …

Microplastics In Mangrove And Beach Sediments On Southeast Florida Barrier Islands, Kayla Shae O’Brien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Plastic pollution in the marine environment is a global occurrence. Microplastics have been documented in numerous marine systems and organisms. Coastal estuaries and beach systems are at high risk for microplastic pollution. The distribution, abundance, and hazards microplastics present in these marine environments is not fully understood but are widely recognized as needed to support efforts aiming to protect and enhance these extremely valuable marine systems. This project aimed to quantify the abundance and variation of microplastics in estuarine mangrove and open coast beach sediments on Southeast Florida barrier islands, which are vulnerable and important coastal ecosystems. Barrier islands serve …

Manner Saliency And Linguistic Relativity: Verbal And Non-Verbal Experiments With Spanish-English Bilinguals, Spencer G. Selecter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Talmy (2007) was the first to propose a language typology based on the lexicalization patterns of motion verbs. According to his typology, certain languages tend to encode certain elements within the main verb of motion event descriptions. It has been proposed that Spanish and English exist on opposites sides of this typology and Slobin (1996 & 2006) speculates these structural differences may affect what aspects of external events are more salient to speakers of these languages. The present study investigates the verbal and nonverbal behavior of English monolinguals and Spanish-English bilinguals to see if any differences exist in the aspects …

Microfluidic Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy For Blood Analysis, Samaneh Rikhtehgaran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The study of the electrical properties of red blood cells (RBCs) plays a crucial role in advancing our understanding of human health. As RBCs age, they undergo changes that affect hemorheology and blood microcirculation, which have far-reaching implications for disease research. Furthermore, the shortage of RBC storage units can be a major issue for patients, underscoring the importance of characterizing RBC aging with respect to cell densities. In individuals with abnormal hemoglobin disease, alterations in hemoglobin and its functionality can modify the volume and density of RBCs, making their study even more crucial. To this end, our aim is to …

Mechanisms Of Selective Attention In Working Memory, Modeled From Human Alpha Band Oscillations, Asal Nouri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Working memory (WM) enables the flexible representation of information over short intervals. It is established that WM performance can be enhanced by a retrospective cue presented during storage, yet the neural mechanisms responsible for this benefit are unclear. Here, we tested several explanations for retrospective cue benefits by quantifying changes in spatial WM representations reconstructed from alpha-band (8 - 12 Hz) EEG activity recorded from human participants before and after the presentation of a retrospective cue. This allowed us to track cue-related changes in WM representations with high temporal resolution. Our findings suggest that retrospective cues engage several different mechanisms …

Looking On The Inside: Princess Margaret Hospital’S Maternity Wards, The Bahamas, Denesha Evette Ritchie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

In The Bahamas, the Princess Margaret Hospital is one of the main public facilities used to deliver babies. The hospital is divided into two maternity wards, public and private. This thesis aims to analyze the narratives of mothers’ experiences who have given birth in the hospital. Also, this thesis examines the difference in treatment between mothers’ first, second and third births. The data suggest that the way mothers were treated is based on their age and relationship status during delivery. Notably, mothers on the private ward had the advantage of a family member to witness the delivery pre-COVID, while mothers …

Making A Difference In The World Through Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Graduate Students Engaging In Stembased Academic Service-Learning, Aaron Kyle Hackman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This phenomenological study sought to understand the lived experiences of graduate students engaged in STEM-related Academic Service-Learning (AS-L). For the purposes of this study, Academic Service-Learning is a form of experiential learning whereby students complete a service project as a component of a specific course. This study looked at these student AS-L project experiences at the graduate level as a component of STEM-based courses. While the impact of Academic Service-Learning on the undergraduate experience is well documented, there is no research to date on the graduate experience, much less on graduate students in STEM fields. By understanding the lived experiences …

Microfluidic Electrical Impedance Technology For Point-Ofcare Assessment Of Sickle Cell Disease, Darryl Dieujuste

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic disease that affects approximately 100,000 people in the USA and millions worldwide. The disease is defined by a mutation in hemoglobin, the red blood cell’s oxygen carrying component. Under hypoxic (low oxygen) conditions, the mutated hemoglobin (known as HbS) polymerizes into rigid fibers that stretch the cell into a sickle shape. These rigid cells can occlude blood vessels and cause an individual immense pain. Currently, no point-of-care devices exist in the market for assisting those with SCD. Using microfluidics with custom designed portable impedance measuring hardware we can achieve label-free in vitro analyses …

Monitoring And Analyzing The Seasonal Wetland Inundation Dynamics In The Everglades From 2002 To 2021 Using Google Earth Engine, Ikramul Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Previously published in Geographies 2023, 3(1), 161-177 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/geographies3010010) Inundation dynamics coupled with seasonal information is critical to study the wetland environment. Analyses based on remotely sensed data are the most effective means to monitor and investigate wetland inundation dynamics. For the first time, this study deployed an automated thresholding method to quantify and compare the annual inundation characteristics in dry and wet seasons in the Everglades, using Landsat imagery in Google Earth Engine (GEE). This research presents the long-term time series maps from 2002 to 2021, with a comprehensive spatiotemporal depiction of inundation. In this paper, we bridged the …

Network Intrusion Detection And Deep Learning Mechanisms, Suvosree Chatterjee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Cyber attack is a strong threat to the digital world. So, it’s very essential to keep the network safe. Network Intrusion Detection system is the system to address this problem. Network Intrusion Detection system functions like a firewall, and monitors incoming and outgoing traffic like ingress and egress filtering fire wall. Network Intrusion Detection System does anomaly and hybrid detection for detecting known and unknown attacks. My thesis discusses about the several network cyber attacks we face nowadays and I created several Deep learning models to detect accurately, I used NSL-KDD dataset which is a popular dataset, that contains several …

Migratory Patterns And Sexual Segregation In The Blacktip Shark, Carcharhinus Limbatus, Off The United States East Coast, Mary Elizabeth Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Many marine species distributions have shifted poleward in response to global climate change. Many environmental characteristics will be affected by climate change including temperature and phytoplankton concentration; yet, photoperiod will remain the same. It is imperative to gather baseline distribution data on migratory species so that these shifts can be measured and mitigated. Sex-specific differences in reproductive strategies cause sexual segregation, sex-specific differences in spatial distribution. Female blacktip sharks exhibit a synchronous, biennial reproductive cycle in which one year of reproduction is followed by a resting year. Acoustic telemetry can be used in conjunction with collaborative networks to track migratory …

Novel Kirigami-Inspired Flexible Robotic Extension For Mobile Platforms, Ouden Casey Den

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Since 2010, aquaculture practices have produced 70% of global seafood consumption. However, this fast-growing sector of agriculture has yet to see the adoption of advanced technologies to improve farm operations. The Hybrid Aerial Underwater robotiCs System (HAUCS) is an Internet of Things (IoT) framework that aims to bring transformative changes to pond aquaculture. This project focuses on the latest developments in the HAUCS mobile sensing platform and field deployment. A novel rigid Kirigami-based robotic extension subsystem was created to expand the functionality of the HAUCS platform. The primary objective of this design was to limit the surface area of an …

Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity Of The Red-Tailed Monkey, Cercopithecus Ascanius, In African Rainforests, Vitor Daniel Dutra

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Cercopithecus ascanius is an African primate species encompassing five geographic types with unresolved taxonomy. Recent publications have analyzed C. ascanius genetic diversity and taxonomy; however, few publications have addressed the genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationships of C. ascanius from wild populations. My objectives for this thesis were to determine mtDNA diversity within the C. Ascanius species and investigate C. ascanius genetic structure. Results from this thesis support findings from previous studies wherein C. ascanius depicted high mitochondrial diversity and all C. ascanius subspecies form a monophyletic clade within the Cercopithecus genus. Analyzing additional samples of C. ascanius monkeys will strengthen …

Mixed Method Of Health Literacy And Diabetes Self- Management Among Saudi Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Ibtisam Y. Almashni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The worldwide threat of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has been increasing rapidly, and is now an estimated 463 million, of which 55 million people originate from Middle East and Nort African (“MENA”) region (international Diabetes Federation [“IDF’], 2020). In Saudi Arabia, the prevalence of diabetes has roughly reached a ten-fold increase in the past three decades, placing Saudi Arabia’s incidence as one of the highest globally (Almubark et al., 2022). The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between health and diabetes self-management among Saudi adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). The study further aimed to explore how …

Older Adults’ Perception Of Relational Empathy In Their Healthcare Provider And Its Relationship To Medication Adherence, Beth Manresa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The purpose of this study was to explore older adults’ perception of relational empathy in their healthcare providers and its relationship to medication adherence. In addition, the study examined whether older adults’ perception of relational empathy in their healthcare providers was associated with medication adherence, beyond predictive factors including medication beliefs, gender, and level of education. The sample consisted of 72 participants in a community-based program in an adult day center setting in South Florida. Correlation and linear regression analysis were used to test the two research questions. The results indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between older …

On The Paraxial Approximation In Quantum Optics, Maria Fernanda De Boer Jongewaard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

We examine how best to associate quantum states of a single particle to modes of a narrowly collimated beam of classical radiation modeled in the paraxial approximation, both for scalar particles and for photons. Our analysis stresses the importance of the relationship between the inner product used to define orthogonal modes of the paraxial beam, on the one hand, and the inner product underlying the statistical interpretation of the quantum theory, on the other. While several candidates for such an association have been proposed in the literature, we argue that one of them is uniquely well suited to the task. …

Paternal Investment And Young Adults’ Commitment Readiness, Peter G. Messmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The current study examined the association between retrospectively recalled paternal investment and current levels of commitment readiness in young adults. Various aspects of the participants’ relationship with their fathers during childhood were measured in a sample of 250 undergraduate students. Participants were also asked questions about how ready they are to be involved in a committed romantic relationship. The results did not support the main hypotheses: there were no significant associations between retrospectively recalled paternal investment and commitment readiness. Exploratory analyses revealed that attachment avoidance was significantly negatively correlated with both paternal investment, including measures of nurturant fathering and father …