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- Title
- Gender Performance in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
- Creator
-
Lee, Amanda, Listengarten, Julia, Snyder, Tara, Ingram, Kate, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Cross-dressing is a recurrent theme in Shakespeare's comedies, and the theatrical trend of gender bending casting has added an extra layer of complexity to performing his work. How does the gender of the actor affect the performance of a role in Shakespeare? How does it affect the perception of the role, and how can an actor utilize that perception to connect more fully with the audience? How does the female perspective illuminate hitherto unexplored elements of Shakespeare's text and...
Show moreCross-dressing is a recurrent theme in Shakespeare's comedies, and the theatrical trend of gender bending casting has added an extra layer of complexity to performing his work. How does the gender of the actor affect the performance of a role in Shakespeare? How does it affect the perception of the role, and how can an actor utilize that perception to connect more fully with the audience? How does the female perspective illuminate hitherto unexplored elements of Shakespeare's text and characters? I was inspired by Orlando Shakes' all male production of Twelfth Night to research gender theory in relation to classical texts. I was largely inspired by Judith Butler's theories of gender performance, and herein use feminist and gender theory as a lens to view Shakespeare's work. I put on my own production of an All-Female Twelfth Night in which I played Viola. This thesis is an exploration of my process as a scholar, actor, and activist in the context of that production. It follows the journey from page to praxis, as I attempt to apply academic theories to live theatre. It is my intent that this will serve as a possible roadmap for future gender bending in Shakespeare productions, and to empower female theatre makers in that process.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007484, ucf:52660
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007484
- Title
- Expanding and Shedding the Self: Processing Selfdom Through Painting.
- Creator
-
Lucey, Theresa, Poindexter, Carla, Lotz, Theo, Burrell, Jason, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The absurd perpetual struggle, although entirely without hope of resolution, is the key to life's meaning, or perhaps, meaninglessness. The artist must work to live and live to work and find their place in an absurd world. Find joy in the questioning act of art making, make no attempt to escape the meaninglessness through pacifism, and face the chaos with awareness. I employ self-portraiture as a means to dig deeply into my experience and response to living. Self-portraiture morphs along with...
Show moreThe absurd perpetual struggle, although entirely without hope of resolution, is the key to life's meaning, or perhaps, meaninglessness. The artist must work to live and live to work and find their place in an absurd world. Find joy in the questioning act of art making, make no attempt to escape the meaninglessness through pacifism, and face the chaos with awareness. I employ self-portraiture as a means to dig deeply into my experience and response to living. Self-portraiture morphs along with my experiences and keeps a record of my thought patterns. My body of work is the harvest of my seeds of reflection. Tying together past influences, existential questioning, and a Sisyphean philosophy to a life of art making, I unravel the inner outcomes of my studio practice. It is in retrospect, through distance, that these connections are fully realized.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007490, ucf:52657
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007490
- Title
- The Heralds of the Dawn: A History of the Motion Picture Industry in the State of Florida, 1908-2019.
- Creator
-
Morton, David, Foster, Amy, French, Scot, Zhang, Hong, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Often overlooked in its contribution to cinema history, the State of Florida has the distinction of being among just a handful of regions in the United States to have a continuous connection with the American motion picture industry. This relationship in turn has produced iconic entertainment that has shaped the state's image to the outside world, while production spending has served as an important booster for local economies across Florida. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how...
Show moreOften overlooked in its contribution to cinema history, the State of Florida has the distinction of being among just a handful of regions in the United States to have a continuous connection with the American motion picture industry. This relationship in turn has produced iconic entertainment that has shaped the state's image to the outside world, while production spending has served as an important booster for local economies across Florida. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the sometimes cooperative and often contentious dynamics between film and television producers and state politicians have influenced this history of film production in Florida. This can best be understood by examining the ideological divide between the pro-business and anti-corporate factions in Florida's government. Through a series of interconnected case studies that apply place-based analysis, this project demonstrates how the Florida government and communities have historically interacted with the motion picture industry. While Florida never truly became an (")Almost Hollywood(") or (")Hollywood East,(") film producers and state officials were at various times successful in turning the cities of Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami into important centers for film and television production. Yet just as each of these production hubs gained momentum, resistance at the state and local level resulted in the industry's decline and departure. These moments of cooperation and conflict provide important insights into the specific environmental characteristics that inspired filmmakers to come to Florida, as well as the social-political circumstances that eventually pushed them from the state. With a close scrutiny of trade press sources, periodicals, local newspapers, and the personal papers of filmmakers and politicians, this work explains the varied reasons behind the repeated rise, fall, and occasional exodus of the state's motion picture industry. This will be achieved by scrutinizing examples that range from policy decisions made by Florida's government from the turn of the twentieth century on through to the current efforts being made by Florida lawmakers to reinvigorate the state's production industry.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007505, ucf:52630
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007505
- Title
- An Investigation of College Student-Athletes' Mental Health Stigma, Help-Seeking Attitudes, Depression, Anxiety, and Life Stress Scores Using Structural Equation Modeling.
- Creator
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Tabet, Saundra, Lambie, Glenn, Barden, Sejal, Taylor, Dalena, Wood, Eric, Jahani, Shiva, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The purpose of this study was to investigate the directional relationship between student-athletes' degree of mental health stigma, help-seeking attitudes, depression, anxiety, and life stress scores. This investigation tested the theoretical model that student-athletes' (N = 621) degree of mental health stigma (as measured by the Perceived Devaluation-Discrimination Scale (-) Adapted [PDD-A; Eisenberg et al., 2009]) contributed to their attitudes towards help-seeking (as measured by the...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to investigate the directional relationship between student-athletes' degree of mental health stigma, help-seeking attitudes, depression, anxiety, and life stress scores. This investigation tested the theoretical model that student-athletes' (N = 621) degree of mental health stigma (as measured by the Perceived Devaluation-Discrimination Scale (-) Adapted [PDD-A; Eisenberg et al., 2009]) contributed to their attitudes towards help-seeking (as measured by the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help (-) Short Form [ATSPPH-SF; Fisher (&) Farina, 1995]) and levels of depression (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (-) 9 [PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001]), anxiety (as measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 [GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006]), and life stress (as measured by the College Student-Athlete Life Stress Scale [CSALSS; Lu et al., 2012]). Specifically, the researcher tested the hypothesized directional relationship that student-athletes with a greater amount of mental health stigma would have (a) decreased positive help-seeking attitudes and (b) increased levels of depression, anxiety, and life stress. The results of the structural equation model (SEM) analyses identified that student-athletes' amount of mental health stigma contributed to help-seeking attitudes (25.6% of the variance), but not levels of depression (.16% of the variance), anxiety (.09% of the variance), or life stress (.81% of the variance). Specifically, student-athletes' degree of mental health stigma shared a strong negative relationship (-.506) with attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help. Further, the results identified that personal stigma mediates the relationship between public stigma and help-seeking attitudes. Implications of the findings include (a) greater knowledge of the importance student-athletes' mental health stigma and attitudes toward receiving help; (b) increased understanding for counselors of student-athletes mental health needs; and (c) insight into practices for institutions of higher education as they implement mental health initiatives within intercollegiate athletics.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007538, ucf:52597
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007538
- Title
- Engineering Noble-metal Nanostructures for Biosensing Applications.
- Creator
-
Ye, Haihang, Xia, Xiaohu, Kuebler, Stephen, Chen, Gang, Beazley, Melanie, Feng, Xiaofeng, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The ability to engineer noble-metal nanostructures (NMNSs) in a controllable manner and to understand the structure-dependent properties greatly boost our knowledge in rational design of biosensing technologies. In particular, as a type of highly efficient peroxidase mimics, NMNSs hold promising potential to break through the bottleneck of conventional enzyme-based in vitro diagnostics.During the time of my Ph.D. study, I have successfully: 1) directed a two-step method involving seed...
Show moreThe ability to engineer noble-metal nanostructures (NMNSs) in a controllable manner and to understand the structure-dependent properties greatly boost our knowledge in rational design of biosensing technologies. In particular, as a type of highly efficient peroxidase mimics, NMNSs hold promising potential to break through the bottleneck of conventional enzyme-based in vitro diagnostics.During the time of my Ph.D. study, I have successfully: 1) directed a two-step method involving seed-mediated growth and chemical etching for the synthesis of Ru nanoframes (RuNFs) with face-centered cubic crystal phase and enhanced catalytic activities; 2) demonstrated, for the first time, the inherent peroxidase-like activity of RuNFs as a type of efficient peroxidase mimics, opening up possibilities for their bioapplications; 3) developed an enzyme-free signal amplification technique for ultrasensitive colorimetric assay of disease biomarkers by using Pd-Ir nanooctahedra encapsulated gold vesicles as labels; 4) prepared polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-capped Pt nanocubes with superior peroxidase-like catalytic activity and record-high specific catalytic activity; 5) developed a facile colorimetric method for the detection of Ag(I) ions with picomolar sensitivity by using the PVP-capped Pt nanocubes as the probes; 6) developed a non-enzyme cascade amplification strategy for colorimetric assay of disease biomarkers by taking advantage of the interaction between the Ag(I) ions and PVP-capped Pt nanocubes; and 7) established a highly sensitive colorimetric lateral flow assay platform by using Au@Pt core-shell nanoparticles as the labels that possess both plasmonic and catalytic properties.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007559, ucf:52626
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007559
- Title
- The Long and Short of It.
- Creator
-
McElroy, Ciera, Poissant, David, Peynado, Brenda, Kolaya, Chrissy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The Long and Short of It is a collection of ten stories, spanning centuries and continents, illustrating the universality of loss. Here is a war-haunted Korean vet, brainwashed Nazi brides, a neurotic Soviet ballerina, and a re-imagined Ethan Frome. In these stories, anxiety waits in the wings: will Ethan's wife discover his affair? Will the brides acknowledge the dark truth behind their training? Will a mother recover her kidnapped baby? Characters grapple with grief and anxiety in various...
Show moreThe Long and Short of It is a collection of ten stories, spanning centuries and continents, illustrating the universality of loss. Here is a war-haunted Korean vet, brainwashed Nazi brides, a neurotic Soviet ballerina, and a re-imagined Ethan Frome. In these stories, anxiety waits in the wings: will Ethan's wife discover his affair? Will the brides acknowledge the dark truth behind their training? Will a mother recover her kidnapped baby? Characters grapple with grief and anxiety in various ways. Two mothers mourn missing babies: one turns to the occult, the other heads to Mars. Children reel with abandonment: one obsesses over ballet, the other strives to escape a raging wildfire. With recurring themes of family and motherhood, these stories explore the psychological effects of loss. Ranging from the mundane to the wildly magical, the characters in these stories are haunted by figurative and literal ghosts as they navigate both internal conflict and external responsibilities.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007500, ucf:52633
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007500
- Title
- Assessing Institutional Response to Sexual Violence on College Campuses: The Relationship Between Organizational Characteristics of Colleges and Adherence to National Guidelines.
- Creator
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Macri, Lisa, Burg, Mary Ann, Anderson, Kim, Yegidis, Bonnie, McMahon, Sarah, Potter, Roberto, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This dissertation is a cross sectional exploratory study assessing adherence to the federal campus sexual violence Clery Act and Title IX guidelines among a national sample of (n=94) institutions of higher education (IHE) to determine if there are any relationships between organizational characteristics and CSV policy adherence using a three-part index of compliance: (1). Levels of IHE compliance to federal policies; (2). Levels of IHE provision of CSV prevention services and programs; and (3...
Show moreThis dissertation is a cross sectional exploratory study assessing adherence to the federal campus sexual violence Clery Act and Title IX guidelines among a national sample of (n=94) institutions of higher education (IHE) to determine if there are any relationships between organizational characteristics and CSV policy adherence using a three-part index of compliance: (1). Levels of IHE compliance to federal policies; (2). Levels of IHE provision of CSV prevention services and programs; and (3). Levels of IHE provision of CSV interim and supportive measures. Resource Dependency Theory (Pfeffer (&) Salancik, 1978) informed the study's primary hypothesis that an IHE's reliance on federal financial aid would positively correlate to higher scores on the measures of IHE CSV compliance. Results from regression analyses found a statistically significant (p(<).001) relationship between the receipt of federal student aid dollars by all IHE in the sample and the scores on all levels of the compliance measure. For each federal student aid dollar received, total compliance scores increased by 4 points for all IHE in the sample. Other IHE characteristics, such as the presence of a recent Title IX investigation, were assessed in regard to their relationship to compliance levels. Findings of this exploratory study suggest provisional support for the application of RDT to IHE compliance behaviors regarding campus sexual violence. Additionally, two-year IHE in the sample had statistically significantly lower levels of overall compliance, identifying an opportunity to improve compliance..
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007492, ucf:52631
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007492
- Title
- Forward Osmosis for Algae Dewatering and Electrical Field-driven Membrane Fouling Mitigation.
- Creator
-
Munshi, Faris, Lee, Woo Hyoung, Duranceau, Steven, Sadmani, A H M Anwar, Chumbimuni Torres, Karin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Efficient and low-energy microalgae harvesting is essential for sustainable biofuel production. Forward osmosis (FO) can provide a potential alternative for algae separation with low energy consumption by using osmotic pressure. In this study, an aquaporin-based polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was evaluated for algae dewatering using FO with three different types of draw solutions (DSs: NaCl, KCl and NH4Cl), and under different cross flow velocities (CFVs). 81% of algae dewatering was...
Show moreEfficient and low-energy microalgae harvesting is essential for sustainable biofuel production. Forward osmosis (FO) can provide a potential alternative for algae separation with low energy consumption by using osmotic pressure. In this study, an aquaporin-based polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was evaluated for algae dewatering using FO with three different types of draw solutions (DSs: NaCl, KCl and NH4Cl), and under different cross flow velocities (CFVs). 81% of algae dewatering was achieved with a 29% flux drop. Among three different DSs, although NH4Cl was the best candidate for improved water flux and low reverse salt flux (RSF), it could accelerate cell division, reducing settleability during the FO process. However, RSF originated from NaCl could increase lipid content (~ 49%) in algal biomass probably due to the osmotic imbalance in algal cells. During FO operations, membrane fouling would be an inherent problem against sustainable algae dewatering. In this study, a novel approach was investigated by coupling the FO with an electric field for developing repulsion forces that can prolong the filtration cycle and mitigate foulant attachment. Several electric fields (0.33, 0.13 and 0.03 V mm-1) were applied in continuous and pulsing modes (10sec intervals) to mitigate membrane fouling for effective algae dewatering. The electric field FO configuration used in this study was able to produce 3.8, 2.2 and 2.2 times greater flux at the applied potential of -1.0, -0.4, and -0.1 V, respectively, compared to the control (without an electric field). A high potential of -10 V for 60 sec was applied as an optimal cleaning procedure with a high ability to recover flux (99%). The study also investigated the effect of the electric fields on bulk pH, conductivity, settling velocity, lipid content and microalgal morphology. Overall, this study demonstrates a novel technology for algae dewatering in FO application using the aquaporin-based PES membrane.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007507, ucf:52632
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007507
- Title
- Assisted Living: Stories.
- Creator
-
Swift, Donovan, Poissant, David, Peynado, Brenda, Milanes, Cecilia, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Assisted Living is a collection of stories that explores themes of parenthood, brotherhood, old and new love, adultery, financial strife, and the many faces of loss. The collection offers different points of view, which allow the reader to experience these themes within varying lives and situations. For example, the eponymous (")Assisted Living(") is from the perspective of a pet-sitter at the brink of losing both her job and husband, while (")Holy Mother(") explores the point of view of a...
Show moreAssisted Living is a collection of stories that explores themes of parenthood, brotherhood, old and new love, adultery, financial strife, and the many faces of loss. The collection offers different points of view, which allow the reader to experience these themes within varying lives and situations. For example, the eponymous (")Assisted Living(") is from the perspective of a pet-sitter at the brink of losing both her job and husband, while (")Holy Mother(") explores the point of view of a wife coming to terms with her affair and the physical injury that has changed her husband. (")The World of Reptiles(") follows a father walking his son through a zoo before they receive his son's cancer test results, while (")Host(") follows two sons who discover their recently deceased mother believed in reincarnation before she died. Other stories explore characters stuck in relationships(-)both familial and romantic(-)that started bright, but curled toward the dark, leaving the characters feeling trapped by the ones they love. The collection as a whole seeks to explore people stuck between selves, people striving to be new and better, while failing and succeeding in ways big and small.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007537, ucf:52625
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007537
- Title
- Methodological Improvements in the mRNA Profiling Assays for Incorporation into DNA Casework Workflows.
- Creator
-
Volk, Paris, Ballantyne, John, Gerasimova, Yulia, Baudelet, Matthieu, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Currently, DNA profiling is the gold standard to identify an individual. However, determining body fluid origin is important in criminal investigations, offering additional information surrounding the circumstances of a crime. However, crime labs can only definitively identify blood and semen and presumptively saliva using techniques that consume time and sample and do not simultaneously identify all forensically relevant body fluids. This causes many crime labs to want to bypass body fluid...
Show moreCurrently, DNA profiling is the gold standard to identify an individual. However, determining body fluid origin is important in criminal investigations, offering additional information surrounding the circumstances of a crime. However, crime labs can only definitively identify blood and semen and presumptively saliva using techniques that consume time and sample and do not simultaneously identify all forensically relevant body fluids. This causes many crime labs to want to bypass body fluid identification altogether. Therefore, advances into more definitive molecular-based body fluid methods are necessary. One such technique is mRNA profiling because it provides a highly sensitive and specific approach to definitively identifying all relevant body fluids in parallel. Although advancements have been made, improvements to mRNA profiling methodologies still need to be researched such as 1) possible mRNA recovery from established DNA workflows and 2) possible integration of mRNA profiling into an upfront male DNA screening assay for triaging sexual-assault evidence likely to contain male DNA and reduce/eliminate a significant bottleneck in the standard DNA workflow of microscopic sperm identification. This study was designed to address these two issues by evaluating a novel way to recover RNA, for body fluid identification, from the waste fractions of a PrepFiler(TM) DNA extraction, and from the DNA extracts directly. Next, this study aimed to provide a relatively quick molecular-based approach for screening sexual-assault evidence. It involves extraction of RNA using the Dynabeads(TM) mRNA DIRECT(TM) Kit, while saving the extraction waste fractions for downstream male-DNA quantitation and STR profiling. The RNA is then used in a rapid and sensitive 1-step combined reverse transcription-HRM assay to positively detect the presence of sperm. Both non-conventional co-extraction methods successfully addressed current body fluid identification challenges and allowed for easy integration into existing workflows when single sourced, mixture and mock casework samples were analyzed.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007551, ucf:52627
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007551
- Title
- The Poems You Don't Own.
- Creator
-
Reinhardt, Emma, Thaxton, Terry, Stap, Donald, Uttich, Laurie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The Poems You Don't Own is a collection of poems whose speakers explore the journey from the simplistic perspective of childhood to the confusion of adolescence to the first experiences of sexuality, heartbreak, and grief, examining the religious, societal, and gender expectations that influence those experiences. The collection's reverse-chronological order allows readers to travel back through the many experiences that shape a present moment. In poems such as (")The Game of Life,(") the...
Show moreThe Poems You Don't Own is a collection of poems whose speakers explore the journey from the simplistic perspective of childhood to the confusion of adolescence to the first experiences of sexuality, heartbreak, and grief, examining the religious, societal, and gender expectations that influence those experiences. The collection's reverse-chronological order allows readers to travel back through the many experiences that shape a present moment. In poems such as (")The Game of Life,(") the speaker considers the gender roles that begin to influence our perception of relationships from a young age, while poems such as (")What to Know Before Writing about Heartbreak(") explore how societal perceptions can seek to control the very expression of emotional pain. The speakers struggle with masculine and feminine in an effort to unravel the association between emotional expressiveness and feminine (")weakness(") as well as reveal the harmful consequences of perceiving emotional repression as a feature of masculine (")strength.(") Amid these gender explorations, the collection often returns to speakers seeking to understand the heartbreak of failed relationships and almost-loves. By probing this universal experience, these poems chronicle the loss, confusion, and reclaiming of identity as the speakers rediscover that their story was never about (")you.(")
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007521, ucf:52628
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007521
- Title
- Energy Expenditure and Stability During Self-Paced Walking on Different Slopes.
- Creator
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Raffaelli, Alanna, Huang, Helen, Fu, Qiushi, Kassab, Alain, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Metabolic power and cost of transport (COT) are common quantifiers for effort when performing tasks including walking and running. Most studies focus on using a range of normal walking speeds over level ground or varied slopes. However, these studies use fixed-speed conditions. Fatigue, stability, metabolic expenditure, heart rate, and many other factors contribute to normal walking speed varying over time. This study aimed to show that allowing a subject to walk with a self-paced speed...
Show moreMetabolic power and cost of transport (COT) are common quantifiers for effort when performing tasks including walking and running. Most studies focus on using a range of normal walking speeds over level ground or varied slopes. However, these studies use fixed-speed conditions. Fatigue, stability, metabolic expenditure, heart rate, and many other factors contribute to normal walking speed varying over time. This study aimed to show that allowing a subject to walk with a self-paced speed should correlate to a minimum COT at a given slope. This study also aimed to determine if a preferred slope exists based on minimizing metabolic expenditure or maximizing stability. In this study, subjects walked at four different speed conditions including three fixed speeds (0.75 m/s, 1.0 m/s, 1.25 m/s) and their self-paced speed at five different slopes (-6(&)deg;, -3(&)deg;, 0(&)deg;, 3(&)deg;, 6(&)deg;) while metabolic energy expenditure and motion were recorded. The minimum COT occurred at a 3(&)deg; decline. At this slope, some subjects preferred to walk at a faster speed compared to level ground, whereas other subjects walked with a slower speed compared to level ground. Thus, there was a greater range of self-paced speeds, from 0.745 m/s-2.045 m/s. In comparison, at a 6(&)deg; incline, the range of self-paced speeds was much smaller, from 0.767 m/s-1.434 m/s. The variance among self-paced speeds and slope conditions between subjects suggests that COT, alone, does not explain walking decisions; stability might play a greater role than initially believed. These results provide greater insight into why humans choose to walk at a certain speed over a range of slopes and terrains.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007515, ucf:52629
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007515
- Title
- Factors Contributing to Victim Employment, Victim Income Status, and Intimate Partner Violence in Jamaica.
- Creator
-
Fraser, Marsha, Wan, Thomas, Yegidis, Bonnie, Dziegielewski, Sophia, Ross, Lee, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Using 166 IPV police reports in Jamaica, this mixed-methods study (a) explored the utility of routine activities theory and control balance theory for explaining the relationship between victim employment and IPV; (b) explored risk factors for IPV; and (c) examined the relationships between victim employment and victim income status with IPV murder and IPV severity in the Jamaica. Content analysis of the narratives of the police reports supported both theories suggesting an integration of the...
Show moreUsing 166 IPV police reports in Jamaica, this mixed-methods study (a) explored the utility of routine activities theory and control balance theory for explaining the relationship between victim employment and IPV; (b) explored risk factors for IPV; and (c) examined the relationships between victim employment and victim income status with IPV murder and IPV severity in the Jamaica. Content analysis of the narratives of the police reports supported both theories suggesting an integration of the two theories may be most fitting. Estrangement and infidelity emerged as bold themes. Infidelity was identified as an additional risk factor in the Jamaican context. Quantitative analysis revealed that employed victims and victims with income were significantly older than their counterparts. Being unemployed and having no income were associated with being female. Male victims were 4.98 times more likely to be employed and 7.30 times more likely to have income than female victims. Older victims were 2.36 times more likely to have income than younger victims. Victim employment and victim income status failed to predict the odds of IPV murder or to impact the level of IPV severity. However, the offender's weapon emerged as a salient predictor. When an offender used a sharp weapon or a gun, the odds of the victim being murdered was 4.77 greater and .71 greater respectively than if no such weapon was used. Using a sharp weapon magnified the IPV severity (B = 1.20) while using a gun reduced the IPV severity (B = .78). This study is useful for informing public policies addressing IPV in Jamaica.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007632, ucf:52495
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007632
- Title
- Moving Towards a Dialogic Pedagogy: Using Video Feedback as a Teaching Tool to Respond to Writing across Disciplines.
- Creator
-
Martin, Paul, Vie, Stephanie, Brenckle, Martha, Roozen, Kevin, Kitalong, Karla, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
This study examined the impact of video feedback (VF) as a teaching tool for responding to writing activities and assignments across disciplines and whether or not VF can help instructors facilitate dialogic exchanges between students and teachers. I conducted three case studies with three different instructors from three different disciplines: psychology, history, and nanoscience. To determine the potential of video feedback to facilitate dialogic pedagogies, this dissertation examined the...
Show moreThis study examined the impact of video feedback (VF) as a teaching tool for responding to writing activities and assignments across disciplines and whether or not VF can help instructors facilitate dialogic exchanges between students and teachers. I conducted three case studies with three different instructors from three different disciplines: psychology, history, and nanoscience. To determine the potential of video feedback to facilitate dialogic pedagogies, this dissertation examined the presence of transformational leadership theory (Parkin, 2017), the voices of teaching and learning (Collison et al., 2001), and gesture theory (Bavelas et al., 2014; Pera?kyla? (&) Ruusuvuori, 2008) for the paralinguistic activity in the VF content to determine if the presence of these theories position students as what Buber (1965) referred to as a (")Thou(") and dismantle the authoritative discourses (Bakhtin, 1994) in higher education that hinder learning. This dissertation found that teachers experienced meta-reflection and self-dialogue from making videos, which is dialogic. This study also found that instructors can facilitate dialogic exchanges that undermine authoritative discourses if they can utilize their paralinguistic activity that video affords them. This study also revealed that using VF requires overcoming a significant learning curve, and that Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) can help teachers improve how they negotiate feedback variables like the assignment, discipline, pedagogy, and learning outcome that can lead to dialogic feedback.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007497, ucf:52650
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007497
- Title
- Motor and sensory characterization of a mouse model of Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2O disease.
- Creator
-
Nandini, Swaran, King, Stephen, Kim, Yoon-Seong, Estevez, Alvaro, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Dynein is an essential motor protein required for the maintenance and survival of cells. Dynein forms a motor complex to carry intracellular cargoes like organelles, growth factors, peptides, and hormones along the microtubules inside the cells. In neurons, the dynein is the retrograde motor protein that moves cargoes from the neuronal tip to the neuronal soma along the length of an axon. Dynein has an established role in neuronal nuclear migration, transport of neuronal survival signals and...
Show moreDynein is an essential motor protein required for the maintenance and survival of cells. Dynein forms a motor complex to carry intracellular cargoes like organelles, growth factors, peptides, and hormones along the microtubules inside the cells. In neurons, the dynein is the retrograde motor protein that moves cargoes from the neuronal tip to the neuronal soma along the length of an axon. Dynein has an established role in neuronal nuclear migration, transport of neuronal survival signals and growth factors, organelle positioning inside neurons etc. Hence, it is not very surprising that numerous mutations in dynein have been reported in association with neurodegenerative diseases in humans. The first human mutation (H306R) in dynein heavy chain was reported to cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth Type 2O disease (CMT2O) in humans. CMT2O patients display motor-sensory neuropathy symptoms such as muscle weaknesses and wasting in legs, skeletal deformities like pes cavus (high foot arching), difficulty in walking, and a loss of sensation.We developed a novel knock-in H304R mouse model with the corresponding CMT2O linked dynein mutation to understand the disease's molecular mechanism. We investigated and characterized the motor-sensory phenotype of the H304R mouse model (wildtype, heterozygous (H304R/+) and homozygous (H304R/R) mice). First, we started with testing mice on motor skills behavior tests such as tail suspension reflex, grip strength test, and rotarod test at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age. Both male and female groups of heterozygous (H304R/+) mice displayed mild defects in tail suspension reflex, grip strength, and rotarod performance. In contrast, homozygous (H304R/R) mice exhibited severe defects in the tail suspension reflex, grip strength, and rotarod performance right from an early age. Next, I analyzed the sensory phenotype of the H304R mouse model. Homozygous H304R/R mice appeared to have thinner sciatic nerves, reduced total fascicular area of the sciatic nerve, and significantly quicker latency to tail withdrawal from a pain stimulus than the wildtype and heterozygous H304R/+ mice. Collectively, our motor and sensory characterization studies reveal that H304R dynein mouse model recapitulates many of the phenotypes associated with CMT symptoms. Hence, the H304R model is a useful tool in understanding the dynein function in the onset and progression of CMT2O in humans.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007508, ucf:52651
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007508
- Title
- I Have Questions.
- Creator
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Matejowsky, Lorena, Thaxton, Terry, Stap, Donald, Uttich, Laurie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The poems in this thesis explore mid-life feminism, family, mental illness via anxiety and panic, identities of southern girlhood/womanhood, and the challenges of a social media saturated life. Mothering plays a large part in many of these poems, both embracing it and confronting gendered expectations about it. Telling the truth is explored through poems about white women's complicity in racist systems in the southern United States and how being quiet about it benefits us. Fear and the myriad...
Show moreThe poems in this thesis explore mid-life feminism, family, mental illness via anxiety and panic, identities of southern girlhood/womanhood, and the challenges of a social media saturated life. Mothering plays a large part in many of these poems, both embracing it and confronting gendered expectations about it. Telling the truth is explored through poems about white women's complicity in racist systems in the southern United States and how being quiet about it benefits us. Fear and the myriad ways it has manifested in my life is a common thread in this work, especially the fears that accompanied white girls growing up in the Southern U.S. during a time of shifting societal roles and cultural values. The speaker in these poems both deny and celebrate the cultural, political, and environmental influences that shaped her early years. As a feminist poet in mid-life with a teenaged daughter and a teen and pre-teen son, I have a tenuous relationship with the influence of mass media. Controlling screen-time for my children and monitoring my own intake of news, braggadocio and ex-boyfriends on social media is a constant, anxiety laden burden. I am more comfortable in a world that does not always revisit itself. I have spent years trying to erase the effects of Texas big hair, provocative clothing, alcohol, and sexually explicit music, video and advertising on my life. Other times I yearn for an escape back. Poetry challenges me to look backward with bravery. These poems reflect the forces of memory and modernism that both limit and liberate modern women. In Trump's America where women are demeaned and silenced through populist rhetoric and legislation, it is more important than ever to magnify female, truth-telling voices and this collection is intended to contribute to positive change.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007499, ucf:52652
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007499
- Title
- A Theoretical Investigation of Small Organic Molecules on Transition Metal Surfaces.
- Creator
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Malone, Walter, Kara, Abdelkader, Stolbov, Sergey, Kaden, William, Thomas, Jayan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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With the ever growing number of proposed desnity functional theory (DFT) functionals it becomes necessary to thoroughly screen any new method to determine its merit. Especially relevant methods include a proper description of the van der Waals (vdW) interaction, which can prove vital to a correct description of a myriad of systems of technological importance. The first part of this dissertation explores the utility of several vdW-inclusive DFT functionals including optB86b-vdW, optB88-vdW,...
Show moreWith the ever growing number of proposed desnity functional theory (DFT) functionals it becomes necessary to thoroughly screen any new method to determine its merit. Especially relevant methods include a proper description of the van der Waals (vdW) interaction, which can prove vital to a correct description of a myriad of systems of technological importance. The first part of this dissertation explores the utility of several vdW-inclusive DFT functionals including optB86b-vdW, optB88-vdW, optPBE-vdW, revPBE-vdW, rPW86-vdW2, and SCAN+rVV10 by applying them to model systems of small organic molecules, pyridine and thiophene, on transition metal surfaces. Overall, we find the optB88-vdW functional gives the best, most balanced description of both thiophene and pyridine on transition metal surfaces while revPBE-vdW, rPW86-vdW2, and SCAN+rVV10 functionals perform especially poorly for these systems. In the second part of this dissertation we change our focus to potential applications of DFT. Specifically, we study the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process and molecules that could be used in molecular electronics. The removal of sulfur containing molecules from petrochemicals through HDS is an exceptionally important process economically, and the field of molecular electronics is rapidly developing with hopes of competing with and replacing their silicon analogues. First we investigate the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene. In this dissertation we manage to map the HDS rate of thiophene in realistic reaction conditions to the charge transfer and adsorption energy of thiophene on bare transition metal surfaces in hopes of predicting ever more active HDS catalysis. Finally we look at the adsorption of polythiophenes and 5,14-dihydro-5,7,12,14-tetraazapentacene (DHTAP) on Au(111) and Cu(110). We find that polythiophenes may dissociate of Au(111), presenting an issue for their use in molecular electronics. DHTAP, in contrast, proves to a suitable candidate for use practical devices.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007494, ucf:52653
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007494
- Title
- Heterogeneous Reconfigurable Fabrics for In-circuit Training and Evaluation of Neuromorphic Architectures.
- Creator
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Mohammadizand, Ramtin, DeMara, Ronald, Lin, Mingjie, Sundaram, Kalpathy, Fan, Deliang, Wu, Annie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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A heterogeneous device technology reconfigurable logic fabric is proposed which leverages the cooperating advantages of distinct magnetic random access memory (MRAM)-based look-up tables (LUTs) to realize sequential logic circuits, along with conventional SRAM-based LUTs to realize combinational logic paths. The resulting Hybrid Spin/Charge FPGA (HSC-FPGA) using magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices within this topology demonstrates commensurate reductions in area and power consumption over...
Show moreA heterogeneous device technology reconfigurable logic fabric is proposed which leverages the cooperating advantages of distinct magnetic random access memory (MRAM)-based look-up tables (LUTs) to realize sequential logic circuits, along with conventional SRAM-based LUTs to realize combinational logic paths. The resulting Hybrid Spin/Charge FPGA (HSC-FPGA) using magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) devices within this topology demonstrates commensurate reductions in area and power consumption over fabrics having LUTs constructed with either individual technology alone. Herein, a hierarchical top-down design approach is used to develop the HSC(&)#173; FPGA starting from the configurable logic block (CLB) and slice structures down to LUT circuits and the corresponding device fabrication paradigms. This facilitates a novel architectural approach to reduce leakage energy, minimize communication occurrence and energy cost by eliminating unnecessary data transfer, and support auto-tuning for resilience. Furthermore, HSC-FPGA enables new advantages of technology co-design which trades off alternative mappings between emerging devices and transistors at runtime by allowing dynamic remapping to adaptively leverage the intrinsic computing features of each device technology. HSC-FPGA offers a platform for fine-grained Logic-In-Memory architectures and runtime adaptive hardware.An orthogonal dimension of fabric heterogeneity is also non-determinism enabled by either low(&)#173; voltage CMOS or probabilistic emerging devices. It can be realized using probabilistic devices within a reconfigurable network to blend deterministic and probabilistic computational models. Herein, consider the probabilistic spin logic p-bit device as a fabric element comprising a crossbar(&)#173; structured weighted array. The programmability of the resistive network interconnecting p-bit devices can be achieved by modifying the resistive states of the array's weighted connections. Thus, the programmable weighted array forms a CLB-scale macro co-processing element with bitstream programmability. This allows field programmability for a wide range of classification problems and recognition tasks to allow fluid mappings of probabilistic and deterministic computing approaches. In particular, a Deep Belief Network (DBN) is implemented in the field using recurrent layers of co-processing elements to form an n(&)#215; m1(&)#215;m2(&)#215;...(&)#215;mi weighted array as a configurable hardware circuit with an n-input layer followed by i?1 hidden layers. As neuromorphic architectures using post-CMOS devices increase in capability and network size, the utility and benefits of reconfigurable fabrics of neuromorphic modules can be anticipated to continue to accelerate.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007502, ucf:52643
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007502
- Title
- Exogenous Shocks and Political Unrest.
- Creator
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Nurmanova, Didara, Tezcur, Gunes Murat, Ash, Konstantin, Wilson, Bruce, Alpanda, Sami, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This dissertation explores the role of exogenous shocks such as economic shocks and natural disasters in producing political unrest in the form of anti-government protests and ethnic riots. It is integrated by three articles, each covering a different topic. The first article argues that economic shocks play a crucial role in protest mobilization in rentier states conditional on weaker repressive capacity or higher taxation. Empirically, it conducts a cross-national study of high-resource...
Show moreThis dissertation explores the role of exogenous shocks such as economic shocks and natural disasters in producing political unrest in the form of anti-government protests and ethnic riots. It is integrated by three articles, each covering a different topic. The first article argues that economic shocks play a crucial role in protest mobilization in rentier states conditional on weaker repressive capacity or higher taxation. Empirically, it conducts a cross-national study of high-resource dependent states in the period of 1995-2014. The second article contends that there is a variation in a degree to which a country's regions are exposed to economic shocks. A higher regional exposure to economic shocks is argued to increase the likelihood of regional anti-government protest at in competitive autocracies. The argument is tested in a subnational analysis of Russia using original dataset of regional anti-government protest and regional economic data in the period of 2007-2015. The third article develops a theory of natural disasters and ethnic riots. It argues that climate-induced meteorological disasters increase chances of ethnic riots because of declined state capacity that creates uncertainty about enforcement of existing ethnic contracts, and feelings of uncertainty result in strong group categorization, stereotyping and polarization. The argument is tested in a subnational study of Hindu-Muslim riots in Indian states in the period of 1951-2015. The results of the studies in this dissertation offer three key findings: (1) higher resource rents lower protest likelihood in autocratic rentier states with higher repressive capacity; (2) regional unemployment is a strong predictor of anti-government protest; (3) natural disasters in the form of precipitation and temperature anomalies increase chances of ethnic riots. The findings suggest a conclusion that exogenous shocks are important predictors of anti-government protest and ethnic riots.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007510, ucf:52644
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007510
- Title
- Fundamental core effects in Co-Cr-Fe-Ni based high entropy alloys.
- Creator
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Mehta, Abhishek, Sohn, Yongho, Coffey, Kevin, Kushima, Akihiro, Jiang, Tengfei, Stolbov, Sergey, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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High entropy alloys (HEAs) are near equiatomic multi-principal-element-alloys (MPEAs) which are different from traditional solvent-based multicomponent alloys. Based on initial work by Yeh and Co-workers, they were proposed to exhibit four (")core(") effects: high entropy, sluggish diffusion, lattice distortion, and cocktail effect. Present work investigates two of the four (")core(") effects, i.e. high entropy and sluggish diffusion effects, in Co-Cr-Fe-Ni based transition metal high entropy...
Show moreHigh entropy alloys (HEAs) are near equiatomic multi-principal-element-alloys (MPEAs) which are different from traditional solvent-based multicomponent alloys. Based on initial work by Yeh and Co-workers, they were proposed to exhibit four (")core(") effects: high entropy, sluggish diffusion, lattice distortion, and cocktail effect. Present work investigates two of the four (")core(") effects, i.e. high entropy and sluggish diffusion effects, in Co-Cr-Fe-Ni based transition metal high entropy alloys. Solid-to-solid diffusion couple approach was adopted to investigate, these core effects. Experimental results contradicts the (")high entropy(") effect based on thermodynamics analysis: that the HEAs with low entropy of mixing may be thermodynamically more stable than the HEA of similar constituent elements with high entropy of mixing. In such cases, enthalpy of mixing can also play a vital role in stabilizing the HEA with lower entropy of mixing. Measurement of diffusion coefficients (i.e. both interdiffusion and tracer diffusion coefficients) in HEAs and its comparison with conventional solvent-based multicomponent alloys suggests that diffusion is not always sluggish in high entropy alloys. Contrary to previous findings, larger fluctuations in lattice potential energy (LPE) of an alloy may not always result in anomalously slow diffusion, in comparison to alloy systems which exhibits smaller fluctuation in LPE. Findings from his dissertation provide a (")controversial(") understanding of high entropy alloys, and alloy development strategies in the future for the most aggressive applications such as those found in gas turbines and nuclear reactors. As these applications will certainly require the knowledge of high temperature stability and nature of diffusion under extreme application environment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2019
- Identifier
- CFE0007501, ucf:52645
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007501