Digital Commons Network^™

Queering Classics: A Dinner Party With The Devil, Dracula, And Dante Alighieri (Hosted By Dr. Hannibal Lecter), Lex Daly

Theses & ETDs

For my thesis project, I have compiled a portfolio of three essays on the NBC television series Hannibal (2013-2015). Chapter 1 employs queer theory for a religious studies analysis of the show's characterization of Hannibal Lecter as the embodiment of Satan. Chapter 2 uses Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's "Seven Theses of Monster Culture" as the framework with which to compare and contrast the evolving mythos of both Count Dracula and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, as part of a greater deconstruction on how they exemplify Western constructions of monstrosity across time. Finally, Chapter 3 delves into the series' extensive allusions to Dante Alighieri's …

성장통(Growing Pains): Animating The Intersection Of Early Menarche And The Model Minority Stereotype On Adolescent Development, Payton Sherer

Theses & ETDs

Adolescence, particularly the onset of puberty, is a critical window in which a host of physiological and psychological changes occur, creating a stressful environment for adolescents. Due to the different hormonal changes in puberty in males and females, this window could have different outcomes based on sex. For females, the age at which first menstrual cycle begins, known as menarche, has fallen in recent decades. Critically, early menarche has been linked to negative mental health outcomes. Puberty is also associated with social and cultural challenges that can create a vulnerable period exacerbated by biological changes. One such social pressure is …

The “Thing” About Bodies: Accessing The Grotesque Body Through Carnival Puppets, Kyle Miller

Theses & ETDs

This thesis proposes the carnivalesque as potentially subversive when placed outside of the time and space of the carnival due to the unrestrained body’s status in society as perverse and potentially dangerous. The first chapter discusses Mikhail Bakhtin’s “grotesque body” in the carnival in conversation with both the Russian Carnival puppet Petrushka as it existed prior to and during the Russian revolutions in 1905 and 1917 against Tsar Nicholas II as well as Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi (or King Ubu), conceptualizing similarities between the puppet and the body under the contexts of subversive entertainment. Jarry’s Ubu Roi is placed within …

An Analysis Of Emotion Recognition And Attentional Biases In Montessori Teachers, Non-Montessori Teachers, And Non-Teachers, Alyssa Boynton

Theses & ETDs

Previous literature has found that emotion recognition is essential to how we respond to others; that people after the age of about 12 months focus longer on negative faces than happy ones (a negative attentional bias); and that Montessori students see more surprise in ambiguous faces, see less fear in ambiguous faces, and are more likely to look longer at happy faces (a positive attentional bias) than children in traditional public schools. However, only one study has investigated this difference between Montessori and non-Montessori students, and little is known about the potential differences between and impact of teachers. The current …

Amalgam: Queering And Decolonizing Genre And Music Practice, Ash Hoffman

Theses & ETDs

This project examines why and how, musically, and in creative praxis, I began my journey towards a decolonized, genre-less approach to creation through the process of writing, recording, and producing my first studio album. AMALGAM, the paper, and the accompanying album, aims to assess the intricate relationships and challenges that exist intersectionally between music, creativity, and the world's many oppressive social systems which come as a result of our colonized conditionings. The goal of the praxis and messages explored in this work is to engage in a queering process of our relationships to genre and music as they have been …

“Go Go Grocery:” The Creation And Development Of A Virtual Reality Simulation Game, Natalie Massaro Koon

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis paper, I describe the process of independently developing a video game for the Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset. I begin by giving a brief history of virtual reality video gaming, the Oculus brand and its acquisition by the company known at the time as Facebook, and the Unity video game engine. From there, I explain my original intentions for this project, and how they have evolved as I learned the limits of my abilities and time. I describe how to set up the basic template for a virtual reality game in Unity, how I designed the …

Strands In The Web Of Life: The Mayan Milpa And Ways Of Relating To Nature, Ellie Jalbuena Cook

Theses & ETDs

The indigenous Maya people of the Yucatán cultivate milpa, a complex agroecosystem. The milpa system involves maize, beans, and squash in a polyculture along with a wide array of other plants and animals in a shifting cultivation style in which patches of forest are periodically cleared, cultivated for a few years, and then allowed to grow back into the surrounding forest. The milpa is integrated into both the community of Mayan society and the forest ecosystem, guided by an epistemic value system based on a respect for the interdependent animacy of the land and the life in the ecology. In …

Crocodile Talk: Structural Analysis Of American And Morelet’S Crocodile Vocalizations In Belize, Helena Wood Barron

Theses & ETDs

Out of the extant reptilians, crocodilians are the most vocal (Vergne et al, 2009). Crocodiles use vocalizations for social interactions, such as courting and territorial defense (Vergne et al, 2012), as well as distress or threat calls (Boucher et al, 2020). There are two types of crocodiles living in Belize, the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and the Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii), and they have been hypothesized to interbreed based on genetic evidence and morphological traits of both species being exhibited in individuals (Ray et al, 2004). The overall aim of this project was to analyze the structure of calls made …

Enhanced Efficiency In Natural Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells By Fine Tuning Pigment Interactions, Katie Herbert

Theses & ETDs

Traditional methods of solar energy are expensive and inaccessible for many people, especially in times of such economic disparity. Natural dye-sensitized solar cells may provide a solution to this due to their low-cost, accessibility and simple fabrication methods. This form of energy remains in preindustrial phases due to low efficiency and rapid degradation of the dye. This thesis proposes that by fine tuning pigment interactions, both through intentional selection of compounds present and purification by thin layer chromatography, efficiencies in dye-sensitized solar cells can be enhanced. In crude dye samples of anthocyanin containing dyes, efficiencies increased slightly with the addition …

The Physics And Environmental Benefits Of A Patented Mobile Solar Carport Appliance, Antonia Ginsberg Klemmt

Theses & ETDs

GismoPower’s patented Mobile Electricity Generating Appliance (MEGA) is a new solar deployment method turning photovoltaics into a mobile appliance, making solar not only more affordable to the general public, but also more accessible. Several different prototypes and renditions of the MEGA were created in order to optimize the design for manufacturing, durability, and ease of assembly. This thesis analyzes the electricity generation of the first prototype (2020) and the most recent prototype (2023).

Locomotory Behaviors In Three Marine-Associated Arthropods: A Film-Based Analysis Of Aratus Pisonii (Edwards, 1837) (Crusacea; Decapoda; Sesarmidae), Ligia Baudiniana (Edwards, 1840) (Crusracea; Isopoda, Ligiidae), & Anurida Maritima (Guerin-Menevill, 1836), (Crustacea; Collembola, Neanuridae), Lydia Dykema

Theses & ETDs

Marine-associated arthropods are subject to a wide array of environmental challenges. While they risk desiccation on land, they are subject to a variety of threats in water ranging from its chemistry and physical characteristics to predation. Aratus pisonii, Ligia baudiniana, and Anurida maritima– semiterrestrial marine-associated arthropods– demonstrate tidal-driven daily rhythms that minimize their time in the water. Their existence at the land-water interface nevertheless forces them to enter the water at times where it is critical that the animals be capable of moving quickly and effectively back to land. Through this study, I sought to understand what locomotory forms and …

Case Study: The Adoption Of Power Bi Dashboard For Improved Credit Risk Management In The Uae, Reem Saeed Ali Hassan Alnajjar

Theses

Financial institutions will be under pressure to extend loans because of the need to act promptly on loan requests while upholding quality and compliance when servicing customers with competitive banks. In this new era, it is interesting to test existing theories and factors and whether new insights could emerge. Thus, the focus of this qualitative research is to understand factors influencing technology adoption and success and hence, improve credit risk analysis with the help of new advances in technology and dashboards tools such as Power BI and other intelligent systems. This is important to achieve optimal, more secure, and faster …

History’S Pathologists: Oswald Spengler, Jacques Barzun, John Lukacs And The Dying Of The West, Michael A. Flannery

Libraries Professional Work

This essay explores the perceived weakening and even possible collapse of Western Civilization as seen through the eyes of three prominent historians: Oswald Spengler, Jacques Barzun, and John Lukacs. Each of them has provoked controversy due to their pathologies of the West and their conclusion that its vital signs (identified as religion, science, and education), suggest a sick and possibly dying patient. All three developed metahistories that led, in Dermot Quinn’s words, to “that architecture of greater meaning by which historical facts make themselves intelligible.” That is to say, beyond their specific historical narratives, each made use of a wider …

Graduate Catalogue 2023 - 2024, Tennessee State University

Tennessee State University Graduate Catalogues

No abstract provided.

La Imagen Divina Del Antiguo Perú Y Sus Falsas Interpretaciones, Uwe Carlson

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

La arqueología científica del antiguo Perú sólo existe desde hace poco más de 100 años. Durante este tiempo, no parece haber sido posible interpretar con éxito la iconografía y, en particular, las imágenes divinas y la religión del antiguo Perú. En los últimos 15 años, el autor de este texto ha realizado numerosas publicaciones y libros sobre la presencia de la imagen divina en objetos del antiguo Perú, especialmente en textiles. Esto ha proporcionado interpretaciones lógicas y coherentes para todas las antiguas culturas peruanas basadas en la identificación de su simbolismo. Sin embargo, esta literatura no parece haber sido reconocida …

Venus Y El Maíz En El Códice De Dresde, María Montserrat Camacho Angeles

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Es posible documentar una multitud de vínculos entre Venus y el maíz en toda Mesoamérica, particularmente en el área maya. Estos vínculos son de muy diversa índole, pero se presentan en tal profusión, que no sería extraño esperar que alguna de las advocaciones de Venus se identificara con el maíz mismo. La imagen de la deidad, no suele ser considerada como un dios del maíz. Debemos situar a esta deidad en su contexto, debido a lo cual tendremos que mencionar algunas generalidades sobre las Tablas de Venus en el Códice de Dresde y al hacerlo surgirán algunos elementos novedosos o …

Iconografía Y Simbolismo De Las Aves En Piezas Del Sitio Arqueológico Ciudad Del Jaguar-T1 (Honduras), Geydy Rodríguez Wood

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Honduras es un país que, por su ubicación en el corazón de Centroamérica, facilitó en época precolombina, un flujo migratorio en donde diferentes culturas del norte y del sur interactuaron, intercambiaron conocimientos y se mezclaron con los nativos del territorio, creando así un espacio multicultural. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo el estudio iconográfico y simbólico de piezas con representaciones figurativas de aves del sitio arqueológico Ciudad del Jaguar-T1, que se encuentran en el Centro de Investigación Ciudad Blanca (El Aguacate, Catacamas, Honduras). Realizo esta investigación a través del estudio estilístico, iconográfico y simbólico de las piezas, que me permiten …

Nuevo Acercamiento A La Iconografía De Los Vasos Con Perfiles De Animales Fantásticos, Patricia Ochoa Castillo

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

Perfiles de un animal fantástico, o ser sobrenatural, con rasgos que lo asocian al jaguar, combinado con líneas, rectángulos, las cejas en forma rectangular, ojos almenados, la cabeza con hendidura en la parte superior, así como la presencia de un óvalo bajo la nariz, o banda nasal, son elementos que se repiten en algunas representaciones plasmadas en vasos de base y paredes ligeramente cóncavos. A través del análisis de cada uno de sus elementos se intentará definir el personaje o ser ahí representado y su simbología, que se desarrolla durante el Preclásico.

Profiles of a fantastic animal, or supernatural being, …

Las Urnas Zapotecas (Estado De Oaxaca, México): Una Iconografía Del Espacio Y Del Tiempo, Pascal Mongne

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

La cultura zapoteca (Estado de Oaxaca, México) es famosa por sus célebres “urnas funerarias”, de las que existen unas 4.000 en el mundo. Conocidas desde principios del siglo XIX, estas piezas han sido objetos de estudios iconográficos que, sin embargo, han incluido numerosas falsificaciones realizadas a raíz de su éxito. Las “urnas” zapotecas fueron el tema de una investigación doctoral realizada por el autor entre 1980 y 1985. Esta, basada en los informes de excavaciones publicados o conservados en los archivos, permitió reunir datos hasta entonces poco tratados, tanto sobre la evolución estilística como sobre su entorno (condiciones de descubrimiento, …

Hombres, Pumas Y Jaguares: Imágenes Del Poder Chamánico En Los Vasos Líticos Del Noroeste Argentino, María Alba Bovisio

Segundo congreso internacional de iconografía precolombina. Barcelona, 2023. Actas.

El presente trabajo se centra en el análisis de unos vasos de piedra, producidos en la región valliserrana del noroeste argentino durante el Período Formativo, que se destacan por su escaso número, su particular iconografía que gira en torno a felinos y humanos masculinos, y la maestría en su ejecución. Estos recipientes habrían estado asociados al consumo de sustancias psicoactivas en rituales de carácter chamánico. A través del análisis iconográfico articulado con las características materiales y funcionales se indaga el rol de estos objetos como agentes de legitimación y constitución del poder ejercido por los chamanes.

This paper analyzes lithic …

Elucidating The Impact Of Western Diet On Bone Marrow Cytokine Signatures: Understanding Poor Outcomes In Susceptibility To Infection And Progression Of Cancer, Lahari Kondeti

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Among other disease outcomes, obesity is associated with 1) reduction in long-lasting immune protection and 2) acquisition of cancer. Given our interest in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) dynamics, we questioned if similar mechanisms in the bone marrow microenvironment contribute to obesity-induced HSPC alterations responsible for 1) decreased immune protection and 2) transformation of HSPCs in the pathogenesis of hematologic malignancies. The negative effects of obesity on immune protection are most notably established in influenza models. Influenza infection susceptibility is increased and influenza vaccine-induced immunity wains in obese individuals. Ongoing studies aim to define mechanisms for waning immunity at …

Cs 602: Java Programming, Donald Hsu

Computer Science Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Cs 485: Selected Topics In Cs​​, Tomer Weiss

Computer Science Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Tonal-Atonal Equilibrium: Reginald Smith Brindle’S Harmony Of Peace (1979) And El Polifemo De Oro (1956), Oliver Chandler

GFA Refereed Monographs

Reginald Smith Brindle once claimed that “a whole generation [of composers] dedicated their efforts in one way or another to the exploration of the field between tonality and atonality, and to the integration of serialism into a more accessible language.” But how was such integration actually to be achieved? Chapter 1 addresses this question from a music-theoretical perspective. In an attempt to explain how post-tonal harmonic progressions might “make sense,” Smith Brindle himself formulated theories of tension flow and tonal-atonal equilibrium in his 1966 textbook, Serial Composition. The former theory compares the number of consonant and/or dissonant intervals between …

Rebuilding Old Empire: Bbc And Indigenous Language Broadcasting In Nigeria, Ololade Afolabi

Communication, Media & The Arts Faculty Publications

Using the framework of postcolonial and critical cultural studies of communication, this essay examines the rise of BBC indigenous language broadcasting in Nigeria. Taking an interdisciplinary approach from the fields of language studies, media studies, and cultural studies, the essay argues that media and communication contact that occurs between colonists and their previous colonies cannot be taken as coincidental or casual; therefore, the need to combine the local and global in theorizing new frameworks for understanding this complex relationship and the power dynamics that occurs alongside it.

How Can Consuming A Plant-Based Diet Reduce The Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease In Postmenopausal Women?, Rebecca L. Stack

Undergraduate Review

Despite the fact that women suffer higher rates of cardiovascular events after menopause, there exists a significant underrepresentation of women—especially postmenopausal women—in cardiovascular clinical trials to date. Fortunately, current evidence reveals that cardiovascular events in the general population are largely preventable through modifiable lifestyle factors, with dietary intervention being one of the most important (Amiri et al., 2022). As the impact of whole-diet interventions on cardiovascular risk factors is further explored, it has been determined that a plant-based dietary pattern may favorably influence the prevention of cardiovascular events in postmenopausal women (Barańska et al., 2021). Evidence also reveals that certain …

How Gonorrhea Caused The Medicalization Of American Blindness, Ashley Schepis

Undergraduate Review

No abstract provided.

Enhancement Of Muscle Shortening Torque Preloaded With Muscle Lengthening Is Joint-Specific, Marzouq K. Almutairi, Gary R. Hunter, Donald H. Lein, Sojung Kim, David R. Bryan, Mario Inacio, Christopher P. Hurt, William Reed, Harshvardhan Singh

APC Fund

Our cross-sectional study aimed to investigate joint specificity of concentric muscle torque enhancement after a maximum eccentric contraction for the knee versus ankle joints across two different movement velocities (120°/s and 180°/s). After a familiarization session, 22 healthy young adults randomly performed concentric (CONC) and maximum eccentric preloaded concentric (EccCONC) muscle strength tests of the knee extensors and ankle plantar flexors of the non-dominant leg on an isokinetic strength testing device. We calculated the ratio between EccCONC and CONC (EccCONC/CONC) for all the conditions as the marker of concentric muscle torque enhancement. Separate two-way (joints x velocity) within repeated measures …

Data Drives Nebraska: Technology Advancements Impact Agriculture And Natural Resources, Laura E. Young, Emily Hatterman, Chandra Spangler, Alexis Corman, Klanie David, Jennifer Velasquez-Perfecto, Gracie Stout, Noelle Philippi, Emma Hoffschneider, Taylor Gregory-Jensen, Saskia Lanwermann, Abigayle Warm, Jared Dehaan, Brianna Gable, Sarah Eberspacher, Trisha Dybdal, Jadyn Heckenlively

Strategic Discussions for Nebraska

Strategic Discussions for Nebraska 2023

Data Drives Nebraska: Technology Advancements Impact Agriculture and Natural Resources

Special Issue: Agri-Food Systems Transformation: Sustainability, Resilience, And The Role Of Technology, Rui Mao, Aleksan Shanoyan, Kate Brooks

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

The agri-food systems around the world are faced with the challenges from unprecedented short-term shocks and long-term supply and demand shifts. The need for transformation towards more sustainable and resilient agri-food systems has thus risen to the centre of attention of agribusiness industry and policy decision makers. Technological innovations in the areas of supply chain management, environmental protection, and nutrition improvement have a potential of playing an important catalytic role in such systematic transformations. This special issue includes 11 research articles examining a range of strategic and technological solutions aimed at facilitating the resilience and sustainability of agri-food systems to …