Other Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Self-Expansion And Couple Possessions: The Representation Of The Self And Other In Valued Possessions, Lindsey Paniccia

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study seeks to understand the influence of romantic relationships on identity symbolism, specifically the use of personal possessions as a means of achieving social validation. According to self-expansion theory (Aron & Aron, 1986), engaging in a romantic relationship alters one’s sense of self; romantic partners take on the qualities and characteristics of a partner and integrate them into the self. To understand the process of identity symbolism due to one’s newly expanded sense of self, this study investigated the link between the amount of reported self-expansion and couple representativeness as well as the function of one’s possessions (other-direct …

Perception Of Social Presence In Asynchronous And Synchronous Online Discussion From The Perspective Of Native And Non-Native Speaker, Abdullah A. Alruhaimi

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The technology innovation of telecommunication gave confidence to educational institutions to substitute some of their courses from traditional courses into virtual ones. This switch in education inspired globalization. The learners use either synchronous or asynchronous communication tools to interact with each other. Most previous studies in this field show that social presence is correlated with learner achievement satisfaction and interaction. So the researcher measured the level of social presence for both groups of learners, native and non-native speakers, across both types of online communication, synchronous and asynchronous communication. The researcher conducted a 2x2 split-plot ANOVA design with repeated measure for …

Novel Phytol-Derived Immunostimulants (Phis-01) For Enhancement Of Vaccine Efficacy: A Comparative Study, Youssef Aachoui

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adjuvants are used widely in vaccine formulations. However for humans, choices are very limited. Since they are selected empirically, it is not expected that any two adjuvants would influence immune mechanisms the same way. However they all influence host microenvironment, antigen presentation, and retention of immunological memory. This study focuses on new terpenoid adjuvants based on phytol derivatives. We previously observed that phytol and one of its derivatives PHIS-01 (a phytol-based immunostimulant, phytanol) are excellent adjuvants. To gain an understanding of the structural features important for adjuvanticity, we further studied compounds derived from a diterpene Phytol. We designed two new …

An Examination Of The Influence Of Religion On The Forgiveness Process, Gregory J. Johnson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to examine the religion-forgiveness hypothesis in the context of the forgiveness process in an attempt to better understand the basis of the relationship. Data was collected from 140 participants in an online survey that contained measures of religious behaviors, religious beliefs, religious fundamentalism, empathy, emotional intelligence, forgiveness, and social desirability. A hypothesized model specified that religious variables of religious belief, behavioral religiosity, religious fundamentalism would be predictive of forgiveness when mediated by emotional intelligence and fully mediated by empathy. Using structural equation modeling, it was found that religiosity was predictive of greater levels forgiveness when mediated by …

Relationship Between Foot Pressures And Alterations Of Horizontal Velocities Of The Center Of Mass While Hurdling, Braden Cole

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed the landing phase of hurdle clearance to investigate how the vertical displacement in the hurdler’s center of mass and foot pressures at ground contact lead to a change in the hurdler’s overall horizontal velocity of the center of mass. This study examined four male collegiate high hurdlers as they performed three trials of clearing one 42 inch high hurdle. The subjects were filmed during the three trials using three Panasonic cameras (60 Hz) and one JVC video camera (60 Hz), which was later used to provide video images in order to digitize each frame using the APAS …

Disclosure Involving A Third-Party: Reciprocity And Liking Outcomes, Keith Cotterell

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This investigation examines the function of third-party disclosures on reciprocal self-disclosures and liking. Sixty-eight college students engaged in a social interaction with one or two computers. In the experiment, one computer would “disclose” information either about itself or about another computer (third-party). Each disclosure was followed by a question to the participant. Questions were asked either by the discloser or by third-party to assess reciprocation of disclosures. Afterwards, participants rated liking for the two computers-as-social-actors. Participants showed a tendency to disclose more (i.e., give longer responses) to an actor who disclosed to them, regardless of whether the disclosure was about …

Assessment And Impact Of Gentrified Public Housing Neighborhoods In The United States: A Case Study Of Chicago, Todd W. Sink

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social-mix housing policies play a unique role in shaping the geography of gentrification in cities throughout the U.S. and Europe. The HOPE VI program in the U.S. is one popular example. Since its inception in 1992, HOPE VI has simultaneously displaced thousands of urban poor from their homes and neighborhoods, reduced their housing opportunities, and created and encouraged housing development for a more affluent population. Yet over the years, very few empirical studies have emerged that examine the place-based outcomes of HOPE VI within the context of gentrification. As such, important empirical questions remain unanswered. This study focuses on the …

Using Growth Rate Of Reading Fluency To Predict Performance On Statewide Achievement Tests, Rachelle Whittaker Hinkle

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Federal legislation has prescribed the increased use of statewide achievement tests as the culmination of a student’s knowledge and ability at the end of a grade level; however, schools need to be able to predict those who are at-risk of performing poorly on these high-stakes tests. Three studies served to identify a means of predicting statewide achievement test scores in either third or eighth grade based on CBM reading scores and rates of improvement at first, second, and third grades or third, fourth, and fifth grades using readily available statistical procedures. One-half of the third-grade data was used in Study …

Assessing Environmental Conditions At The Friar Tuck Mining Complex, Dugger, Indiana, Windy Jo Mcbride

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many abandoned mine lands (AML) continue to present significant environmental concerns. The abandoned Friar Tuck Mining Complex in Greene and Sullivan counties, Indiana, continues to impair local water quality despite closing in 1952 for operations and multiple remediation attempts. Most areas within the Friar Tuck Mining Complex have been successfully remediated; however, the area of research interest requires additional treatment and continues to be impacted by runoff from gob piles. Subsequently, areas characterized by a loss of vegetation where mine seeps occur behave unpredictably and are characterized by the exposure of bare soil. These mine seep areas are of particular …

Place Construction, Identity, And Capital Investment: An Investigation Of Two Tourist Landscapes In Michigan, Andrew Stawarski

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tourist communities exist all over the world. They are areas that are focused on tourism and are often tailored to resemble specific regions or themes to better achieve capital gain. In this study, two cities in Michigan are examined to better understand how the cultural landscapes are experienced and what practices are employed throughout the landscape. Specifically, this thesis investigates the spatial practices that are involved in re-creating and re-presenting ―themed‖ landscapes. Another question analyzed is whether the ―themed‖ landscapes reflect the resident‘s daily lives and/or their histories. This thesis examines the two Michigan cities of Gaylord and Frankenmuth, re-presenting …

Citrustv Website Redesign Project, Alyssa Elias

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Many students who live off campus at Syracuse University are unable to view the Orange Television Network. CitrusTV's news, sports and entertainment programming airs on this channel and is therefore unavailable to many students. To expand the viewing audience, the CitrusTV website is crucial.

The original goal of this honors capstone project was to enhance and improve CitrusTV’s website in order to simulate that of a local news station. Through a newly created content management system, students would be able to upload news stories with text, video and pictures.

Because of CitrusTV’s annually changing administration and technical hurdles, the project’s …

Characteristics Of Difficult Patients In Prisons Compared To Difficult Patients In Primary Care Settings, Emily Kistler

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research has found that patients perceived as being difficult by their physicians share a number of characteristics. These “difficult” characteristics include Axis I disorders, personality disorders, somatization, complex health problems, and aggression. Current research has focused on defining “difficult patients” in community populations, while other populations have gone overlooked. One population that has high prevalence rates of the “difficult” characteristics identified in community samples is offenders. As a group, offenders tend to have high rates of mental illness, chronic health problems, and behavioral issues such as aggression. While difficult patients in prison may resemble difficult patients in the community, research …

Using Textual Features To Predict Popular Content On Digg, Paul H. Miller

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Over the past few years, collaborative rating sites, such as Netflix, Digg and Stumble, have become increasingly prevalent sites for users to find trending content.  I used various data mining techniques to study Digg, a social news site, to examine the influence of content on popularity.  What influence does content have on popularity, and what influence does content have on users’ decisions?  Overwhelmingly, prior studies have consistently shown that predicting popularity based on content is difficult and maybe even inherently impossible.  The same submission can have multiple outcomes and content neither determines popularity, nor individual user decisions.  My results show …

Olfactory Mate Choice And Potential Chemical Signals Of The White-Throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia Albicollis), Peter Sebastian

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chemical odor signals are well documented in mammals, and yet almost nothing is known about the use of chemical odor signals in birds due to the traditional view that birds have a no sense or a poor sense of smell. Recent studies have revealed the traditional view to be unfounded, but more work is necessary to 1) expand our knowledge of avian olfaction in passerine species and 2) determine whether birds utilize chemical signals. The aim of this thesis was to 1) test for olfactory-based choice in a passerine species, and examine the chemical composition of preen oil for potential …

Perception Of Control: Accuracy Among Optimists And Pessimists On Noncontingency And Contingengy Tasks, Spencer Baunn M.S.

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The learned helplessness theory asserts that depressed individuals unrealistically believe that they have little to no control over aversive outcomes in their lives. Paradoxically, research on judgment of control has demonstrated that depressed individuals are not necessarily pessimistic, but rather more realistic than non-depressed individuals. Most of the research on depressive realism has investigated individual’s perceived control in situations in which they have no actual control. Few studies have investigated perception of control in situations where control is possible. Considering that many circumstances in life are controllable, it is important to examine how different personality variables contribute to accurate judgments …

Career Decisions: Goodness-Of-Fit And Attrition Of Teachers In Alternative Schools, Deidre S. Coulter

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers are the most important element in the education system (Stronge, 2002). However, studies of teachers in certain sectors are lacking. The paucity of research on teachers who work in the alternative school environment was a driving force behind this study, which is a case study of the characteristics of alternative schools, perceptions of teacher training, attrition, and goodness-of-fit. Interviews with teachers, administrators, and support staff in an alternative school were used to investigate interactions between teachers and students and between colleagues. Classroom observations of the teachers were used to help explore the classroom climate. Emergent themes such as communication, …

The Impact Of Maternal Factors On Female Juvenile Delinquency Trends, Anne Marie Price

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the difference between female juvenile delinquents and nondelinquents in relationship to a combination of maternal factors (negative maternal behaviors, occupational stress, perceived social support, and maternal parenting stress). Participants were 128 biological mothers of daughters between the ages of 12 and 18 who were either mothers of clients or were clients themselves of a Midwest community health center in one of several clinics in Martinsville, Mooresville, Bedford, Bloomington, and Spencer, Indiana. Participants completed six questionnaires, including: the Demographics Questionnaire, the Maternal Behavior Index, the Adolescent Behavior Survey, the Occupational Crisis Survey, the Duke Social Support Inventory, and …

Transgenic Manipulation In Zebra Fish By Combination Of Cre-Loxp Recombinant System, Tol2 Transposon System, And Rnai Technique, Yang Bai

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this research is to make precisely controlled transgene constructs to target genes in zebrafish and facilitate their functional studies. Many of the previous transgenic techniques (e.g. morpholino) can only produce transient gene expression or inhibition, which is not good for long-term studies. Also, transgenes that randomly integrate into the chromosomes are typically difficult to control and are poorly regulated. Thus, it would be of great benefit to develop a reversibly controlled transgenic tool to help study gene function. Here, we propose to combine three distinct techniques to generate a stable transgenic tool to facilitate gene functional …

Police Brutality Makes Headlines: Retelling The Story Of The 1938 Pecan Shellers’ Strike, Laura Cannon Dixon

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 1938 San Antonio pecan shellers’ strike was a unique labor event. It involved conflicts between a dominant white power elite and workers who were culturally, ethnically, linguistically, and religiously different. The power elite separated and suppressed Tejano workers, who were seen as inferior. The five-week strike was an attempt to shake off that suppression. As newspaper reports from the period showed, the power elite responded to picketers with brutal police tactics, but nightsticks, ax handles and tear gas failed to curb worker resistance. The strike was important, therefore, because unlike other Southern labor actions, workers in San Antonio succeeded, …

Cloning And Characterization Of Sas1738, A Hypothetical Exported Protein From Community-Associated Strain Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Deepak Kumar Vijaya Kumar

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a group of S. aureus strains that has acquired resistance to a class of beta lactam antibiotics and is the major cause of hospital associated infections. Their discovery goes back to 1960 when the first cases were identified. Recently community associated MRSA infections have emerged and are caused by strains that are independent of those from the hospital environment, related only because they carry some of the same antibiotic resistance genes. Community associated infections (CA) are more severe, producing pus filled lesions that are painful and capable of invasion of deep tissues. Virulence factors …

Stay At Home Fathers: The New Gender Benders, Jessica Fischer

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the gender roles and attitudes toward women‟s and men‟s social roles of stay at home fathers and employed fathers recruited on the Internet. The relationship between gender roles and attitudes toward women‟s and men‟s social roles on reasons for becoming a stay at home father were also investigated. It was predicted that stay at home fathers would endorse more traditionally feminine characteristics for themselves and would have more nontraditional attitudes toward men‟s and women‟s social roles than employed fathers. In addition, it was predicted that fathers who choose to stay at home for practical reasons (i.e. lost …

Monstrous!: Actors, Audiences, Inmates, And The Politics Of Reading Shakespeare, Matt Kozusko

English and Creative Writing Faculty Publications

This essay considers the use of Shakespeare as marker of authenticity and as a therapeutic space for performers and audiences across a number of genres, from professional actors in training literature to prison inmates in radio and film documentaries. It argues that in the wake of recent academic trends—the critique of "Shakespeare" as an author figure; the privileging of the text as a source of multiple, potentially conflicting readings—Shakespeare's function as cultural capital has shifted sites, from "Shakespeare" to the playtexts themselves.

Sexual Selection And Plumage In The Polymorphic White-Throated Sparrow, Nathan Rathbun

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Feather coloration has been known to be connected with sexual selection for many years. It also provides an opportunity to study evolution, focusing on sexual selection and natural selection. Plumage is affected by both of these forces and the equilibrium is where these forces balance. The white-throated sparrow gives us a unique opportunity to observe the effects of the different strengths of these forces within a species. First, I established that there were differences in plumage characteristics between the morphs and sexes. White males had the brightest white and darkest black feathers. White females and tan males were the next …

Glacial/Interglacial Export Production In The Subantarctic South Pacific, Jessica Adamic

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Atmospheric CO2 varied considerably in the past; however, the mechanisms that drive this variability are poorly understood. CO2 is linked to marine primary productivity through the biological carbon pump (BCP), leading to hypotheses that past increases in BCP efficiency in areas such as the Southern Ocean may have contributed to glacial CO2 drawdown (Sarmiento & Toggweiler, 1984). Productivity has varied considerably in the past, but the extent, timing, and impacts remain poorly understood. The Subantarctic South Pacific is an area of the ocean that is crucial to the understanding of both glacial climate and paleo-export productivity. Unfortunately, few studies have …

Optimal Experience In Relationships, Activities, And Beyond: Connecting Flow With Self-Expansion, Brandy M. Dean

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Flow is a state of optimal experience characterized by complete immersion in an enjoyable activity and has been associated with positive experience in activities. Self-expansion is a state of increase in the diversity and complexity of the self and has been linked with positive experience in relationships. Despite phenomenological similarities, the connection between these two states has not been examined. The current study used a correlational design to explore the degrees of overlap between these states by comparing them in general, situation-specific, and predictive contexts. It was expected that flow and self-expansion would occur at similar frequencies, be produced by …

Pollinator Deception And Plant Reproductive Success In Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Joseph L. Pettit

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I conducted a study of the deceptive pollination system of Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisama triphyllum, Araceae) in forests of west-central Indiana. I focused on (a) determining the identities and abundances of insect visitors to spathes, (b) evaluating the success of female spathes in setting fruit, (c) determining the relative importance of pollinator visitation and plant size for fruit number, and (d) investigating the function of the female spathe’s lack of an exit hole, which has been hypothesized to improve pollination success. I found that (a) Jack-in-the-pulpit receives visits from both flies and thrips. Counts of fly corpses from spathes showed the most …

An Investigation Of The Reliability And Validity Of The Caperton Forgiveness Styles Inventory, Duane Caperton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was an investigation into the process of forgiveness. The analysis of qualitative interviews with nearly 100 participants suggested four different approaches, or styles, of forgiving and non-forgiving. The Intrapersonal style describes people who forgive other people by focusing on their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. The Interpersonal style describes people who forgive other people by focusing on the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the offending persons. The Easy Going style describes the people who never forgive anyone because they rarely or never feel offended and consequently rarely or never feel the need to forgive others. The Grudge Holder …

Male Adolescents Of Divorce: The Relationship With Their Noncustodial Father, Christine L. Kerr

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the divorce rate in the United States began to rise dramatically in the 1970s, researchers have studied the impact of divorce on those involved. The research indicates that children whose parents divorce are more likely than children whose parents remain married to suffer from a lower level of well-being and are at greater risk for a myriad of ills including poorer school performance and increased behavior problems. While few researchers have focused on the impact of divorce on male adolescents specifically, studies of adolescent males in general indicate they are at risk for a variety of problems including poor …

Personality Assessments And Their Uses In Washington State Registered Health And Human Service Organizations, Marianne Ille-Mckeague

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of this study was to identify the uses of personality assessments and their resulting consequences on employment at organizations registered with the Northwest Region of the U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services. This investigation reported on the application of psychometric testing within the organizational context. Specific to this study was personality or behavioral assessments administered when recruiting, evaluating, or retaining workers, the potential implications ofbehaviorallpersonality assessments on workers within the organization, and the organizational value perceived by testers utilizing these forms of personality assessments. This investigation examined the current personality measuring practices of organizations by analyzing their responses …

Domain Specific Identity Commitment And Alcohol Use And Problems, Alison Glanville

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identity formation is an important developmental task of the college years. Previous research has demonstrated that identity commitment, as defined by James Marcia, is related to decreased substance use and problems. That is, individuals who are identity achieved or foreclosed use substances less frequently and experience fewer substance-related problems than do individuals who are classified in the statuses of identity diffused or moratorium. However, Marcia discussed identity as developing in two domains, the occupational and the ideological (religious beliefs and political ideology). To date, no studies have examined in which domain commitment is associated with a decrease in substance use …