Digital Commons Network^™

Transformation., Jingshuo Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My works mainly show my perception of life and my change of thought. The world is full of changes, and the pandemic has disrupted our lives. Many people, including me, are confused about the world. Philosophy and my observation and thinking about the world helped me to have a clearer understanding of the world. My paintings Licia, Butterfly Woman, and Live with Covid reflect my understanding of German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's theory of empathy. Within my art, I also use another German Philosopher Theodor W. Adorno's theory of the culture industry to deepen my understanding of some social phenomena. My …

Clickbait., Roger Knight

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Clickbait is a surround-sound, audio, video, and audience participation work for live electronics that connects its listeners to the music through the use of a variety of interconnected technologies. The topic of internet clickbait was the initial inspiration that grew into a personal and cultural question. Technological mechanics of live web-based services and data-mining informed those themes further. The interactive nature of internet clickbait drove efforts to establish a deeper connection between the audience and the music. To develop connections between people, applications, and the piece, Node.js, Google Cloud Services, VoiceRSS, and Max/MSP/Jitter video tools were used. This underpins a …

Maria On The Moon: A Chamber Opera., Tanner Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After receiving news that his mother’s cancer has taken a turn for the worse, Brian must face the inevitability of her passing. He refuses to let her go without a fight, however, and attempts to buy time with rituals and strange objects from his eccentric, late family. But dark and mysterious things begin to lurk around their home, and Brian sees what comes of attempting to ward off death. An encounter with a strange figure forces Brian to face his inability to let go of what he cannot control. This work is adapted by the composer from Travis Brown’s short …

Small-Scale Variability In Warm Season, Precipitation Around An Urban Area: A Case Study Of Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky., Isaiah I. Kingsberry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies have detected anomalous precipitation patterns occurring up to 50 km downwind of major cities, providing major evidence that cities inadvertently modify precipitation and atmospheric circulations. Louisville is one such major city with a growing body of evidence of inadvertent precipitation modification. Despite these efforts, the physical mechanisms driving small-scale and unintentional changes in urban precipitation are little understood, being rooted largely in theory rather than in physical observations. This study seeks to build upon previous research by analyzing ground-based precipitation observations recorded by a high-density gauge network located within approximately 40 km of Louisville’s urban center. The results …

Meat The Future., Xin Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the subtle relationship between human life, the environment, and other animals that we live among every day. Under the mainstream social background of capitalism and a commodity economy, animals are the victims of constant consumption and exploitation. However, meat is a basic substance for human nourishment, especially in certain cultures. As a result, meat becomes an important part of the commodity economy in capitalist societies, wherein the supply must be filled to accommodate society’s demand. This research formed an exhibition using glass and ceramic artwork using a playfully satirical tone to offer a crucial alternative: how …

Beyond A Divide: Reconceptualizing Digital Capital And Links To Academic Proficiency., Ryan Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the digital inequality literature, the popular notion of a “digital divide” is frequently used to discuss digital inequality; however, this framework is overly simplistic and cannot adequately capture the complex nature of digital inequality. Some scholars have adopted a framework of digital capital to attempt a multidimensional approach to this social problem, but the literature lacks consistent empirical measurements. Using U.S. data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 Survey, I seek to propose, and validate, internally consistent principal components of digital capital among 15-year-old high school students in the US. I conduct a Principal Component Analysis …

On The Subject Of Loneliness., Isaac Raymond Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Loneliness has been experienced since ancient times, but all were made acutely aware of the need for social interaction during the long periods of lockdown during 2020 and 2021. on the subject of loneliness draws inspiration from a variety of texts which examine the complex effects of loneliness from emotional, scientific, and spiritual viewpoints. Redactions and rearrangements of these texts form a new narrative which does not always follow a linear form or work toward a clear goal. The speaker’s internal dialogue formed from the disparate texts reflects the impact of loneliness on the music itself; only in retrospect do …

A Decade Of Car-Cyclist Collisions In Louisville: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis., Elizabeth Ferguson Greenwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis has considered factors of the built environment to discover if cay-cyclist collisions display any patterns that could be used to improve cycling safety. This thesis contains an introduction, a literature review, an overview of the study area and data, a description of the methods, results, and discussion and conclusion section. This thesis is significant because it has been the first study to consider cyclist volume as an explanatory variable of the spatiality of car-cyclist dependence for Louisville, Kentucky. Through descriptive and spatial statistics, trends in car-cyclists were identified. Collisions occur more frequently in the summer, during commute hours, …

A Mesonet-Based Analysis Of Severe Convective Winds In West Texas., Quint Long

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multiple studies have investigated the occurrence of severe convective-related winds and have increased our understanding of the forces driving severe winds and their spatial and temporal patterns. Data for these studies have come from airport stations maintained by the National Weather Service. Their standardization across the United States makes them ideal for research, but they are limited in their distribution. This study aims to create a similar climatology of severe surface level winds using a mesoscale network (“mesonet”). Like their ASOS (Automated Surface Observing System) and AWOS (Automated Weather Observing System) counterparts, these stations are standardized and well maintained. This …

Automatic Testing Of Organic Strain Gauge Tactile Sensors., Brian P. Goulet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human-Robot Interaction is a developing field of science, that is posed to augment everything we do in life. Skin sensors that can detect touch, temperature, distance, and other physical interaction parameters at the human-robot interface are very important to enhancing the collaboration between humans and machines. As such, these sensors must be efficiently tested and characterized to give accurate feedback from the sensor to the robot. The objective of this work is to create a diversified software testing suite that removes as much human intervention as possible. The tests and methodology discussed here provide multiple realistic scenarios that the sensors …

Ashley: A Chamber Opera In Four Scenes., Rron Karahoda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an intimate chamber opera which explores an original story of a young woman finding her place in the world at the same time she is dealing with unresolved feelings of regret, jealousy, and confusion over her sister’s death. This journey is complicated by people on all sides seeking to benefit by exploiting her and her sister’s legacy. As these two threads collide, the opera reveals itself to be about introducing and synthesizing dualities (in the dialectical sense of thesis→antithesis→synthesis), both musically and dramatically. Octatonic and whole tone pitch sets learn to intermingle, as do whole families of …

Putting Colorism On Trial Intraracial Colorism And Its Impact On Crime Trajectory Among African Americans., Shaderica Ta'shawn Sibley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact of experiences of colorism on the crime trajectory of African Americans. It is qualitative in nature and utilizes semi-structured interviews with incarcerated African American people. As previous research has shown the painful impact of colorism on its victims, this study ultimately seeks to unearth if that pain translates into crime commission and trajectory. The primary purpose of this research is to contribute to the existing body of research that seeks to support “colorism healing” in the African American community. If this indicates that colorism contributes to crime trajectory, such an outcome would have practical implications: …

The Effects Of Previous Traumatic Experiences On Learning Outcomes: Perceptions Of Black Men Who Are Attending Community College, Willie Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Academic underachievement among Black students, particularly Black male students, is a troubling trend that has long attracted scholarly attention. The prevailing consensus is that the shortcomings of some Black male students in academic achievement may be attributable to traumatic experiences arising from environments of violent, inner-city poverty that disproportionately affect Black men. Traumatic experiences have been shown to negatively affect Black men’s self-perception, emotions, self-image, and social and cognitive skills, with consequences in the form of measured shortfalls in retention and graduation rates. My qualitative, phenomenological study sought to explore how previous traumatic experiences of Black men affected their academic …

Positive And Negative Deviant Counties: Identification Of Factors Associated With Health Outcomes, Olivia Egen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rural counties in the United States vary drastically on metrics related to socioeconomic status and dominant economic industry as well as health behaviors and outcomes. This study sought to understand the underlying structural reasons why some rural counties have better or worse than expected health outcomes using a positive deviance (PD) approach. The study aimed to: 1) create an area deprivation index and divide counties into quartiles using the index; 2) identify positive, negative, and non-deviant counties using health outcome metrics; 3) analyze differences between deviance on a variety of local public health system metrics; and 4) analyze differences between …

Student Experiences Leaving Health Profession Interest Areas, Megan Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The undergraduate major change or declaration process can be cumbersome for students who find themselves in unknown territories when making decisions or seeking help during this transition. One of the most challenging groups of students to assist through this transition are those who are denied access to their intended program of study. These students are often pursuing selective degree programs with limited enrollment and competitive admission requirements. Research on students pursuing selective degree programs is largely outdated, with most studies being older than ten years. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how undergraduate students experience leaving selective …

Examining The State Of Substance Use Treatment Among Youth And Adults In The United States, Esther Adejoke Adeniran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States (US), substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders are significant public health problems. Additionally, the difference between needing substance use treatment (SUT) and receiving treatment is becoming more pronounced. Therefore, the aims of this dissertation include, 1) to synthesize evidence of barriers and facilitators to integrating SUT into mainstream health care (MHC) after the Affordable Care Act was nationally implemented in 2014, 2) to examine the rate of treatment completion and dropout, along with its associated factors, among youth who received Medication-Assisted Opioid Therapy (MAT), 3) to determine the relationship between prior treatment episodes and length …

Expression And Functional Characterization Of Avocado Dgat1 And Pdat1 In Arabidopsis And Camelina, Josphat Kiunga

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study is aimed to determine the role of avocado DGAT1 and PDAT1 in seed oil synthesis. Triacylglycerol (TAG) has a nutritional and industrial value and is essential for plant growth. DGAT1 and PDAT1 catalyze the final step of TAG Assembly. We hypothesized that both PaPDAT1 and PaDGAT1, although predominantly expressed in non-seed tissues, could contribute to oil accumulation in seeds. Agrobacterium transformants with PaPDAT1 and PaDGAT1 cloned in pCAMBIA were generated to test this. Subsequently, the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis mutant lines and camelina was carried out by floral dipping. The T₁ camelina seeds …

“The Mount Atlas Of Independence”: Forgotten Founder Roger Sherman, Kaitlyn Kenney

Masters Theses

Roger Sherman is perhaps the most important forgotten founder of the United States. Best known for creating the Connecticut compromise which reconciled the VA and NJ plans by having the House of Representatives be based on population and having each state have one vote in the Senate, he also was instrumental throughout the founding. He was the only man to sign and help draft every major founding document of the United States, one of a select group of self-taught founders and a man who served in practically every civil service position imaginable. Born in Massachusetts, Sherman would move to Connecticut …

A True American Citizen: The Intellectual History Of U.S. Indigenous Policy From 1890-1968, Ariel Kate Norris

Masters Theses

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Indigenous Americans witnessed a significant national change in both their political and social status. Despite the persisting belief that Native Americans belonged to a “race destined to fade into the inevitability of progress” and the ongoing categorization of Indigenous individuals as wards of the federal government, by the end of the 1900s, tribes across the nation were deemed to be sovereign entities and were allowed to determine the paths of their own people. This autonomy did not happen overnight, but instead was a direct result of pivotal legislative decisions; struggles such as the assimilation …

The Met Costume Institute: Evolution, Metamorphosis, And Cultural Phenomenon, Shelby Kanski

Research Papers by TMD Undergraduate Students

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute is much more than just a stagnant collection of historic dress artifacts – it’s a living, breathing cultural entity that has served as a gateway into the history of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children. Unlike other museums that house these historic fashion items, the Met Costume Institute has evolved into a cultural phenomenon with its connection to Vogue, the Met Gala, and the thematic exhibitions that are displayed once or twice a year. By investigating the evolution and metamorphosis of the Met Costume Institute, this research aims to …

Down The Misinformation Rabbit Hole: Falling Or Jumping In?, Alex Siebenmorgen

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

The primary goal of this paper is to determine in which cases, if any, an individual is culpable for adopting, expressing, or acting upon a misinformed belief. To determine this, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms by which individuals select beliefs and the biases or mistakes that lead them to adopt false ones. I will compare and evaluate the views of Neil Levy and Dan Kahan, who offer opposing viewpoints on the source of misinformed beliefs. I will also consider the attempts to model belief adoption and expression through signaling theory. Finally, I will propose a particular standard to …

Pushing At The Seams: French Zines & Bricolage As A Liberatory Act, Shayna M. Davidson

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines the contemporary literary value posed by independently produced French fanzines. French fanzines represent a convergence of textual and graphic narratives, echoing la bande dessinée in many senses. I argue that the liberty of form and expression utilized by the fanzine creator permits a more nuanced iteration of life-writing. The circulation of texts amongst informal economies based in social networks suggests that creators are able to explore narratives of self-hood that do not conform to neoliberal market-oriented categories of identity. Furthermore, the influx of digitally stored and distributed French fanzines confounds their traditional categorization as ephemeral text-objects; as …

Lived Experiences Of Parents With Transgender And Gender Expansive Children, Mary Kathryn Brammer

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

Parents of transgender and gender expansive (TGE) children can be recognized as a marginalized community often not represented or visible in the context of Westernized society. They experience significant challenges that impact their job as primary caregivers and burden their ability to raise healthy and happy TGE people. This research, guided by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methodology and Queer theory, aimed to discern parents of TGE children’s subjective and collective experience raising a TGE child in New Mexico, understand how they experience a support group each participant has attended at least one time, and recognize the significance of these experiences for …

Assessing The Role Of Biology Undergraduates' Metacognitive Calibration And Neural Activity During Model-Based Reasoning, Mei Grace Behrendt

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metacognition refers to the critical awareness of or ability to monitor, regulate, control, and sequence of one's thoughts and performance. There is limited research that examines the relationship between metacognition and (a) academic performance and (b) general cognition among undergraduates. Moreover, there is an even greater paucity of literature that focuses more specifically on undergraduate biology students’ neural activity in relation to their metacognition.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between undergraduate life sciences students' metacognitive calibration, i.e., their capacity to self-evaluate their own performance, and their behavioral performance and brain activity during a biological error reasoning task. Thirty-four …

Correlation Of The Anterior Salience Network With Attention: A Resting-State Fmri Analysis, Matthew Brooks

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Background: Some studies have broadened our understanding of attention while other studies have used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses to identify brain regions that are functionally connected and may be associated with salience processing. This thesis sought to examine the relationship between the anterior salience network and attentional control. The current study hypothesized that resting-state functional connectivity between regions of the anterior salience network would be associated with attentional control ability. Methods: Forty-eight college-aged students completed the affective Stroop task to assess attentional regulation ability. Accuracy on trials of the task was examined in correlation with resting-state functional …

Repair And Strengthening Of Concrete Bridges Using Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (Uhpc), Antony Kodsy

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Reinforced/Prestressed concrete bridges are subjected to environmental effects that cause premature deterioration and require structural repair and strengthening during their service life. Currently 42% of bridges in the United States are at least 50 years old, and 7.5% of them are structurally deficient and need to be repaired/strengthened. Recently, new repair and strengthening techniques using Ultra-High-Performance concrete (UHPC) have shown a great potential with respect to performance, economy, and speed. UHPC is a new class of concrete that has mechanical and durability properties that are far superior to those of conventional concrete (CC). In addition, UHPC offers several advantages compared …

It Takes Brains: Cultivating The Learning Process For Effective Science Communication, Amy D. Hauver

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Learning is a complex, subjective process. An important perspective on learning is that anyone, regardless of their level of education, can participate in learning about science and contribute to their community. The public increasingly looks towards online resources to find answers to challenges, so it is necessary that people become empowered to take information about issues rooted in science and apply them to their own lives and communities. In my experiences as a learner and educator, understanding the learning process provides a framework to design successful learning environments.

Since the brain is the organ most closely associated with the process …

Site-Specific Pest Management In Nebraska Corn And Soybean Production Systems, Zachary D. Rystrom

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Site-specific management (SSM) is widely used by farm producers to fertilize their fields. However, whole field management is currently practiced in integrated pest management (IPM). Site-specific management and agricultural technology can improve IPM especially when precision application of inputs can reduce selection pressure on pest populations, benefit the environment, or save costs of inputs. There is potential for site-specific pest management (SSPM) where pests, or environments vary spatially, and recommended management practices can be applied with precision. Three case studies are evaluated for SSPM to be applied in Nebraska corn and soybean production systems including corn rootworm, preemergence herbicides, and …

First Line Of Defense: Role Of Surface Waxes In Sorghum Defense Against Aphids, Juan David Betancurt Cardona

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Since 2013, the sugarcane aphid (SCA; Melanaphis sacchari) has become a devastating pest in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in the United States. Efforts to mitigate this pest and contain its rapid population growth have increased recently. Host plant resistance (HPR) is an effective and environmentally friendly strategy to reduce aphid populations in this crop. Many factors make SCA a challenging pest to control. For example, SCA can overcome drastic climatic changes, which allows them to successfully colonize sorghum plants at different developmental stages.

Epicuticular waxes (EW) constitute the first point of contact between plants and their environment. EW …

Interactions Between Resistance Genes In Wheat Triticum Aestivum L. And Wheat Curl Mite Populations Aceria Tosichella Keifer (Eriophyidae), Tran Kim Ngan Luong

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wheat curl mite (WCM) (Aceria tosichella Keifer) is a major pest of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), being the only known vector of three damaging plant viruses, Wheat streak mosaic virus, Triticum mosaic virus, and High Plains wheat mosaic virus. This wheat-mite-virus complex causes significant yield loss globally. Management has been mostly through cultural practices to reduce mite build up in volunteer wheat, thereby reducing the spread of viruses. Host plant resistance to WCM has also been used as an important management strategy for this wheat-mite-virus complex. However, WCM is a cryptic species complex, resulting …