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Title: Effects of Disgust on Relational Memory.
Creator: Arch, Natalie, Psychology
Abstract/Description: The purpose of the current study was to determine whether memory for associations between parts of an event that is negative depends on which negative emotion it is, particularly disgust. Participants were instructed that they would see pictures of locations, revealed one by one. Participants were told that they would be presented with one of three scenarios in each of the locations. There were three conditions (disgust, reward and neutral) and after viewing location pictures, participants...
Show moreThe purpose of the current study was to determine whether memory for associations between parts of an event that is negative depends on which negative emotion it is, particularly disgust. Participants were instructed that they would see pictures of locations, revealed one by one. Participants were told that they would be presented with one of three scenarios in each of the locations. There were three conditions (disgust, reward and neutral) and after viewing location pictures, participants were handed a clear plastic bag with a piece of candy in it. In the neutral condition the was candy alone, in the reward condition the candy was with a ten dollar bill and in the disgust condition the candy was with a feminine pantyliner stained with fake blood from a costume store. Memory for location picture/candy combination was assessed with an associative recognition test. Participants had to indicate whether the pairs seen were intact or rearranged. Recall was also assessed; participants were asked to indicate what treatment went with each candy. Brief questionnaires (DPSS-R and VOCI) were used to assess disgust sensitivity. Disgust did not prove to increase participant associative recognition of location picture/candy pairs. Those higher in disgust were less likely to recall pairs in the disgust treatment. Effect of emotion on recall for what appeared in the bag with the candy was not significant overall. The current study illustrates that personality factors and individual differences are important factors when analyzing effects of disgust on memory. How sensitive someone is to disgust may impact memory.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0001
Format: Thesis

Title: Phylogeographic Patterns in the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus).
Creator: Aronow, Karalyn, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: The aim of this project was to analyze relationships among populations of Crotalus adamanteus (Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake) and to compare phylogeographic patterns across different classes of genes. The objective was to determine the effect of selective pressures on the detection of barriers to gene flow. For example, venom genes are under strong positive selection and allow an analysis of the rate of allele exchange in a gene that directly affects the fitness of an individual. This...
Show moreThe aim of this project was to analyze relationships among populations of Crotalus adamanteus (Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake) and to compare phylogeographic patterns across different classes of genes. The objective was to determine the effect of selective pressures on the detection of barriers to gene flow. For example, venom genes are under strong positive selection and allow an analysis of the rate of allele exchange in a gene that directly affects the fitness of an individual. This selection might drive alleles through phylogeographic barriers that limit the spread of neutral alleles. The relationship between nontoxin genes and fitness is not as clear and can be difficult to establish. However, most variation in these genes is neutral and determined by stochastic events. The type of selection on a gene will affect the phylogeographic pattern displayed. Prior phylogeographic studies have used either neutral markers (e.g., microsatellites) or genes not directly involved in specific adaptations (e.g., mitochondrial genes). One venom gene, two mitochondrial genes, one nuclear gene, and one pseudogene were compared for patterns of adaptation and the presence of geographic barriers to gene flow. This novel approach to studying gene flow could have an impact on defining taxonomic groups and conservation efforts, as well as serve as a guide for choosing appropriate genetic markers for other species. In the venom gene that was analyzed, it appeared the high level of selection led to alleles being driven across the barriers to gene flow of alleles under neutral selection.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0002
Format: Thesis

Title: Monte Carlo Simulations for Future Geoneutrino Detectors.
Creator: Askins, Morgan, Physics
Abstract/Description: The main contribution of heat in the earth's mantle is thought to be the radioactive decays of 238U, 232Th, and 40K decay series. A precise measurement of the levels of 238U and 232Th can be determined by measuring the flux of ve (geoneutrinos) emitted from their decay chains. Although detectors such as kamLAND and Borexino have detected few geoneutrinos, a new cost effective geoneutrino detector is proposed which takes advantage of the total internal re ection within a long rectangular prism...
Show moreThe main contribution of heat in the earth's mantle is thought to be the radioactive decays of 238U, 232Th, and 40K decay series. A precise measurement of the levels of 238U and 232Th can be determined by measuring the flux of ve (geoneutrinos) emitted from their decay chains. Although detectors such as kamLAND and Borexino have detected few geoneutrinos, a new cost effective geoneutrino detector is proposed which takes advantage of the total internal re ection within a long rectangular prism acrylic container of liquid scintillator having a single photomultiplier tube (PMT) on each end. An array of these containers would allow for a large scintillator volume relative to the number of PMTs, but a design with such a large ratio of arcylic to scintillator may suffer from a larger background from naturally occurring 238U and 232Th within the acrylic. The event signatures of these decays were compared to those from neutrino interactions using RAT, a Monte Carlo simulation software based upon GEANT4. Implimentation of detector design allowed for cuts in background decays from the detector to be made such that 93% of the background 238U and 86% of the background 232Th decay series are removed. The overall loss of neutrino events from these cuts is about 36%.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0003
Format: Thesis

Title: The Bolshevik Party on Women's Rights and Equality 1917-1920.
Creator: Beck, Elizabeth, History
Abstract/Description: This thesis deals with the opinions and views regarding women's rights and equality by the Bolshevik Party in Russia during the period of 1917 to 1920. This study examines the Bolshevik party's rhetoric involving gender issues, primarily that of women, and the proposed methods of creating a better environment for women. This work relies heavily on Vladimir Lenin and Alexandra Kollontai's speeches and writings which express their views on women's equality and the rights of women. It also...
Show moreThis thesis deals with the opinions and views regarding women's rights and equality by the Bolshevik Party in Russia during the period of 1917 to 1920. This study examines the Bolshevik party's rhetoric involving gender issues, primarily that of women, and the proposed methods of creating a better environment for women. This work relies heavily on Vladimir Lenin and Alexandra Kollontai's speeches and writings which express their views on women's equality and the rights of women. It also relies on the writing of Louise Bryant, a woman from the United States who was present during the Bolshevik revolution for the initial six months, as she expresses her own opinions on the work of the Bolshevik party regarding women's rights. This thesis addresses the initial steps made by the Bolshevik party towards liberating women and creating gender equality during 1917-1920, but primarily deals with the ideas expressed regarding the issue.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0004
Format: Thesis

Title: Manufacturability of Triboluminescent Composites: Towards a Sensory Level Component.
Creator: Breaux, Jolie, Engineering - Mechanical
Abstract/Description: Triboluminescence (TL) is defined as the light emitted by materials when rubbed or broken. This material property has led to the investigation of a structural health monitoring system that could use a triboluminescent material in order to detect damage. A TL structural health monitoring system could create a real time system to determine the stress on a structure, and effectively foretell possible failures. With the prevalence of composites in today"s society, a composite SHM system could...
Show moreTriboluminescence (TL) is defined as the light emitted by materials when rubbed or broken. This material property has led to the investigation of a structural health monitoring system that could use a triboluminescent material in order to detect damage. A TL structural health monitoring system could create a real time system to determine the stress on a structure, and effectively foretell possible failures. With the prevalence of composites in today"s society, a composite SHM system could protect from a catastrophic composite failure. This research is working towards creating that system by integrating sensory TL films into composites and testing there optical and mechanical response. By measuring the amount of time between consecutive impacts, there is a way to determine impact force indirectly using triboluminescence. A triboluminescent film between composite layers can also provide a quick and easy way to monitor damage by use of a black light.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0005
Format: Thesis

Title: Lagrange Meshes in Hardronic Physics.
Creator: Bryant, Brandon, Physics
Abstract/Description: In hadronic physics, the potentials of hadrons are not known and, therefore, their wave functions are not known either. The wave functions can be used to calculate energy spectra and other properties of hadrons, like decay rates. Some hadronic physicists resort to approximation methods to describe the wave functions. In this project, we express wave functions as expansions of basis functions that contain orthogonal polynomials and then employ them in a variational method. We apply this...
Show moreIn hadronic physics, the potentials of hadrons are not known and, therefore, their wave functions are not known either. The wave functions can be used to calculate energy spectra and other properties of hadrons, like decay rates. Some hadronic physicists resort to approximation methods to describe the wave functions. In this project, we express wave functions as expansions of basis functions that contain orthogonal polynomials and then employ them in a variational method. We apply this technique to 2 different systems with known wave functions for 2 different bases. We find that with an appropriately chosen basis of sufficient size this technique produces accurate wave functions and energy spectra. Choosing a sufficiently large basis becomes problematic in practice because of the computational time required to perform eigenvalue calculations. It is desirable then to employ an efficient means of computation. We address this issue by use of the Lagrange mesh method. This method is an approximate variational calculation that gives a potential matrix which is diagonal and a kinetic matrix that must only be calculated once for a given basis. Furthermore, each nonzero element in the potential matrix requires evaluation at only 1 mesh point and each element in the kinetic matrix requires evaluation at only 1 or 2 mesh points. We apply the Lagrange mesh method to a problem with an exact, known solution and then to a hadronic problem. We find that this method is easily implemented and gives accurate results.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0006
Format: Thesis

Title: Synthesis and Characterization of SN Doped CEIN3.
Creator: Collar, Kristen, Physics
Abstract/Description: CeIn3 is a cubic antiferromagnetic heavy fermion metal that orders with a Néel temperature of 10.1K at zero magnetic field. It requires fields up to 64T in order to see the Néel transition and the modified Lifshitz transition[1,2]; however, low dopings of tin have been shown to greatly reduce the Néel transition to occur at lower magnetic fields[3]. CeIn3-xSnx (x=0.25, 0.50, 0.75) were grown using a flux growth technique to investigate the magnetic transitions in lower fields. Crystal...
Show moreCeIn3 is a cubic antiferromagnetic heavy fermion metal that orders with a Néel temperature of 10.1K at zero magnetic field. It requires fields up to 64T in order to see the Néel transition and the modified Lifshitz transition[1,2]; however, low dopings of tin have been shown to greatly reduce the Néel transition to occur at lower magnetic fields[3]. CeIn3-xSnx (x=0.25, 0.50, 0.75) were grown using a flux growth technique to investigate the magnetic transitions in lower fields. Crystal analysis was conducted using SEM/EDS, which estimated the atomic percentages of the elements in the compound to quantify the amount of tin that was incorporated into each crystal. The crystals were characterized using torque magnetometry in the Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS) in order to observe de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) quantum oscillations. The dHvA oscillations observed in the CeIn3 yielded frequencies which correspond to the Landau levels being excited past the Fermi energy. The frequencies were found using a fast fourier transform. They were confirmed to be the same frequencies seen in published data [4], which verifies that this method of flux growth has the potential to grow clean single crystals. No oscillations were observed in the tin doped samples. It was concluded that the sample doping levels were too high and acted as a contaminant, preventing the dHvA oscillations from being observed. The search for an optimum doping continues with lower doping concentrations being grown.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0007
Format: Thesis

Title: Charles IV: Religious Propaganda and Imperial Expansion.
Creator: Crowley, Stephanie, Art History
Abstract/Description: The Bohemian Charles IV (1316 – 1378) was crowned King of Bohemia in 1347, King of the Romans in 1349, and Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. At the time of his death, he had successfully expanded the borders of the Holy Roman Empire to include the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Duchy of Pomerania, and he had himself crowned King of Lombardy. The artwork Charles IV commissioned played a major legitimizing role in this imperial expansion. My study investigates the artistic program...
Show moreThe Bohemian Charles IV (1316 – 1378) was crowned King of Bohemia in 1347, King of the Romans in 1349, and Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. At the time of his death, he had successfully expanded the borders of the Holy Roman Empire to include the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Duchy of Pomerania, and he had himself crowned King of Lombardy. The artwork Charles IV commissioned played a major legitimizing role in this imperial expansion. My study investigates the artistic program of Charles IV in relation to his active promotion of religious cults devoted to three carefully selected saints; St. Wenceslas, St. Charlemagne, and St. Sigismund. I argue that the emperor employed a widespread and calculated artistic program to lay the foundations for his dynasty by creating strong visual ties between himself, his heirs, and the aforementioned royal saints while simultaneously promoting local devotion to those saints. In a detailed examination of the Crowned Reliquaries of Charles IV, the Holy Cross Chapel, and the Madonna of John Očko of Vlašim, I will prove the effectiveness of the emperor's expansive artistic campaign in shaping the way he was perceived in contemporary society, despite his contested ascent to the Bohemian and imperial thrones. I argue that the widespread artistic program of Charles IV was ultimately successful because, by the end of his rule, propagandistic themes common to artwork commissioned by the emperor were present in privately commissioned artwork as well.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0008
Format: Thesis

Title: Freedom of the Media as Freedom from Corruption.
Creator: Daniels, Dustin, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: Corruption over the past decade has emerged as one of the most important issues of economic success in the developing world. During this time several articles and publications have cited media freedom as a closely related component to the fighting of corruption, citing public scrutiny and political incentives as the main arguments. Despite these voices, several criticisms have questioned the validity of these stated relationships and have countered with arguments that condemn the measuring...
Show moreCorruption over the past decade has emerged as one of the most important issues of economic success in the developing world. During this time several articles and publications have cited media freedom as a closely related component to the fighting of corruption, citing public scrutiny and political incentives as the main arguments. Despite these voices, several criticisms have questioned the validity of these stated relationships and have countered with arguments that condemn the measuring tools and indices used for the analysis of corruption. This paper has investigated the relationship that free media has in the fighting of corruption in the developing world, and the strength of the indices used to measure these components. This study also included political freedom as an additional explanatory variable to investigate the importance of other social freedoms on corruption. Using several different indices from several institutions, this paper has found that although different in their approaches, many of these measuring tools come to the same conclusion about the levels of corruption, political freedom and media freedom around the world, a fact that rejects the former criticisms. Furthermore, this paper through a regression analysis shows that media indeed has a very strong non-linear relationship to corruption and can be more robustly seen after a certain threshold. With the newly found confidence in the measuring tools, and strong empirical evidence that media freedom is an important component to anti-corruption efforts, this paper offers some policy strategies that could help apply this relationship.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0010
Format: Thesis

Title: A Case Study of 2010 Hurricane Karl to Evaluate the Precipitation Forecasts of the Post Updated 2010 Global Ensemble Forecast System.
Creator: Day, Lindsey, Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science
Abstract/Description: This research project seeks to evaluate the rainfall forecast accuracy of the GEFS (Global Ensemble Forecast System) following the 2010 model update, analyzing the Atlantic September 2010 Hurricane Karl as a case study. Archived forecasted accumulated precipitation amounts from the GEFS are compared with archived CMORPH (CPC Morphing Technique) precipitation estimates. A sequence of 15 six hour forecasts from 1200 UTC 14 September 2010 to 1200 UTC 18 September 2010 are graphically displayed...
Show moreThis research project seeks to evaluate the rainfall forecast accuracy of the GEFS (Global Ensemble Forecast System) following the 2010 model update, analyzing the Atlantic September 2010 Hurricane Karl as a case study. Archived forecasted accumulated precipitation amounts from the GEFS are compared with archived CMORPH (CPC Morphing Technique) precipitation estimates. A sequence of 15 six hour forecasts from 1200 UTC 14 September 2010 to 1200 UTC 18 September 2010 are graphically displayed using GrADS (Grid Analysis and Display System). Four images were produced for each of the 15 six-hour time frames: A) CMORPH 6-hour accumulated precipitation, B) GEFS 6-hour accumulated precipitation, C) Difference in GEFS and CMORPH 6-hour accumulated precipitation (GEFS-CMORPH), and D) Overlay of outlined areas of medium (≥0.25 inches) and heavy (≥1.0 inches) precipitation for the GEFS and CMORPH. Several errors in the precipitation forecast of the GEFS model post-update were consistent with errors found in the GEFS model prior to its 2010 update from previous studies. For example, the GEFS forecasted the size of the hurricane to be too large for all evaluated times. Although the six hour GEFS track forecast was closely aligned with that of the verified track, major differences between the forecast and verification occurred as the storm approached its second landfall in Mexico. This study highlights that although the model may accurately depict the storm track, other model biases such as a lower resolution, difficulty depicting the atmosphere near land/sea boundaries and over complex terrain—may significantly impact the precipitation forecast.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0011
Format: Thesis

Title: Capillary Electrophoresis Separation of Formaldehyde Cross-Linked Aptamer-Protein Complexes.
Creator: Duren, Joseph, Biochemistry
Abstract/Description: An Immunoglobulin-E (IgE) DNA aptamer was covalently bound to IgE using a formaldehyde cross-linking method. The resulting complex was then separated from free aptamer by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The bound-to-free peak area ratios were preserved as a result of the cross-linking, which acted as a "freeze-frame" of the reaction in equilibrium. Elevated temperature occurring during CE separations can cause dissociation of non-covalently bound molecules and their targets, decreasing the...
Show moreAn Immunoglobulin-E (IgE) DNA aptamer was covalently bound to IgE using a formaldehyde cross-linking method. The resulting complex was then separated from free aptamer by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The bound-to-free peak area ratios were preserved as a result of the cross-linking, which acted as a "freeze-frame" of the reaction in equilibrium. Elevated temperature occurring during CE separations can cause dissociation of non-covalently bound molecules and their targets, decreasing the usefulness of the information obtained. Due to the formaldehyde cross-linking performed, the bound-to-free ratio was preserved over that of the uncross-linked control, which showed a decreased bound-to-free ratio upon heating. Additional trials were run on bovine serum albumin (BSA), anti-BSA, glucagon, and anti-glucagon using the formaldehyde cross-linking method. The results for this section were not conclusive due to difficulties in the separation and mechanistic issues with formaldehyde cross-linking. With the use of formaldehyde cross-linking, complexes that easily dissociate, under stringent separation conditions, can be covalently linked to prevent dissociation and allow for more sensitive analyses to be performed. Keywords:
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0012
Format: Thesis

Title: Florida High-Speed Rail: An Economic Policy Analysis.
Creator: Garrett, Sierra, Economics
Abstract/Description: High-speed rail technology has existed for decades, and with aid from the federal government, public ownership of the right-of-way, and preliminary research and planning, Florida may be the first state to construct a true high-speed line. High-speed rail has implications for sustainability as well as growth, though the determining factor for feasibility is ridership. Finance and management/operation plans are also important to consider as these factors determine whether or not the project...
Show moreHigh-speed rail technology has existed for decades, and with aid from the federal government, public ownership of the right-of-way, and preliminary research and planning, Florida may be the first state to construct a true high-speed line. High-speed rail has implications for sustainability as well as growth, though the determining factor for feasibility is ridership. Finance and management/operation plans are also important to consider as these factors determine whether or not the project will be implemented and if it will require subsidy in order to operate. This paper will examine current financing and ridership forecasting methods and results for high-speed rail in Florida. Successful international high-speed rail projects will be examined, as well as the federal government's role in implementing transportation projects. Details of the Florida proposal will be examined for their economic influence, including job creation, environmental impact, and economic growth. Governor Rick Scott's decision to return federal funds for high-speed rail will be examined, and an analysis of the high-speed rail debate will be conducted. This paper should give an overall sense of viability for the current proposal for Florida High-Speed Rail under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, while identifying possible policy modifications and areas for further research.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0013
Format: Thesis

Title: Analysis of GFDL Intensity Forecasting Performance for Gulf/Caribbean Major Hurricanes from 1998-2008.
Creator: Hazelton, Andrew, Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science
Abstract/Description: While both computer model and official track forecasts of Atlantic Basin hurricanes have improved significantly over the past several decades, forecasts of intensity continue to prove difficult. Even specialized hurricane models struggle with predicting intensity. This study analyzes the intensity errors of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Hurricane Model for 19 major hurricanes over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea from 1998 to 2008. Using the measure of skill relative to...
Show moreWhile both computer model and official track forecasts of Atlantic Basin hurricanes have improved significantly over the past several decades, forecasts of intensity continue to prove difficult. Even specialized hurricane models struggle with predicting intensity. This study analyzes the intensity errors of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Hurricane Model for 19 major hurricanes over the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea from 1998 to 2008. Using the measure of skill relative to the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Forecast (SHIFOR), the GFDL forecasts generally improved throughout most of the 11-year period, although there were some exceptions to this increase in skill. Comparing the GFDL to the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme (SHIPS), it is found that the GFDL was slightly outperformed by SHIPS on most of the forecast categories and times. It seems that there is a correlation between higher intensity storms and higher errors (R = 0.53), and there is also a clear relationship between large negative errors and rapid intensification (R = 0.62). This relationship is explored for some of the ―higher-error‖ cases by comparing the GFDL forecast intensity progression with the actual intensity change. Hurricanes Dean (2007) and Felix (2007) are also analyzed in more detail, since both of these storms were exceptions to the general trend in increased skill from 2000-2008. It is hoped that this and further analysis will illuminate reasons for the model's difficulty with the intensity forecasts, and provide a basis for improving model forecasts and official forecasts of tropical cyclone intensity.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0014
Format: Thesis

Title: How the Culture of Eastern Europe Affected the Rise and Development of communism.
Creator: Hazzard, Karissa, History
Abstract/Description: As a philosophy for the masses, Karl Marx, combined the essential components of both socialism and nationalism to create an ideology that would aid in shaping the latter part of the Twentieth Century: Communism. Many facets of a country's political culture combine to compose the overall environment of a country. The manipulation of these components is how communists were able to develop and dominant within these countries. There are three countries that represent the extreme spectrum of the...
Show moreAs a philosophy for the masses, Karl Marx, combined the essential components of both socialism and nationalism to create an ideology that would aid in shaping the latter part of the Twentieth Century: Communism. Many facets of a country's political culture combine to compose the overall environment of a country. The manipulation of these components is how communists were able to develop and dominant within these countries. There are three countries that represent the extreme spectrum of the communist takeover: Bulgaria, with its historic ties to Russia, Poland, with Russia as its traditional adversary, and Yugoslavia, which developed communism completely independent of Russia and did not bend to Moscow's rule. While communism too different paths to get established, each nation felt a desire for change and a feeling of despair and failure with Western political ideology. These sentiments were evident in the different sectors of the culture during the development, establishment, and domination of the communist party. The elements most important for communist rule are the tensions between the majority ethnicity and the multiplicity of ethnic minorities, the focus of individuality versus communalism and the economic status of the country at the end of WWII versus the initial performance of the communist governments. Other factors include the development, actions, and platform of the communist party, the relationship of the communist party with the Soviet Union, and the use of the military in the communist takeover. although these differed in each country, the outcome was the same by 1948: communist rule.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0015
Format: Thesis

Title: Madea's Family History: A Critical Analysis of the Stage Plays and Films of Tyler Perry.
Creator: Heartley, Alfred, Theater
Abstract/Description: This thesis investigates the films and stage plays of Tyler Perry through a comparative analysis of his works, specifically, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea Goes To Jail, and Madea's Family Reunion. African American theater and film director, writer, and actor, Tyler Perry has become an international Black cultural phenomenon primarily through his infamous loud-mouth, gun-toting, irascible character that he plays in drag, Mabel "Madea" Simmons. Although widely recognized for his films, many...
Show moreThis thesis investigates the films and stage plays of Tyler Perry through a comparative analysis of his works, specifically, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea Goes To Jail, and Madea's Family Reunion. African American theater and film director, writer, and actor, Tyler Perry has become an international Black cultural phenomenon primarily through his infamous loud-mouth, gun-toting, irascible character that he plays in drag, Mabel "Madea" Simmons. Although widely recognized for his films, many people criticize Perry for the use of negative tropes and stereotypes in his stage plays and films. In this, my examination takes into consideration enduring stereotypes and tropes of African American peoples such as the Mammy, the Tragic Mulatta, and the Buck figures that I argue are complex figures within Perry"s work. I propose that there are significant differences between Perry"s work in theater and Perry"s work in film in text and plot. I also introduce a new theory of African American performance based off of Henry Louis Gates"s idea of intertextuality, which I call intermediality, the repetition and revision of performance between different mediums. Through my examination, I discover the multifarious layers that exist within Perry"s stage plays and films that impact the African American community both positively and negatively. As I argue, Perry"s work remains very popular within the African American community and, therefore, there must be more critical scholarship on his works as well as additional work on the theory of intermediality within African American theater studies.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0016
Format: Thesis

Title: Determinig the Effects of Stokes Drift on the Movement of Oil in the Gulf of Mexico.
Creator: Heath, Nicolas, Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science
Abstract/Description: The impact of Stokes drift, a wave-driven mechanism of mass transport, is investigated for surface oil movement in the Gulf of Mexico. Stokes drift was neglected in trajectory forecasts in the Gulf during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The key considerations used in Gulf of Mexico trajectory forecasts were surface currents and wind drift. This study presents a physical argument for the importance of Stokes drift and questions the significance of wind drift over an oil slick. Furthermore,...
Show moreThe impact of Stokes drift, a wave-driven mechanism of mass transport, is investigated for surface oil movement in the Gulf of Mexico. Stokes drift was neglected in trajectory forecasts in the Gulf during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The key considerations used in Gulf of Mexico trajectory forecasts were surface currents and wind drift. This study presents a physical argument for the importance of Stokes drift and questions the significance of wind drift over an oil slick. Furthermore, the magnitude and direction of the wind drift (2–5% of the wind speed and 20° to the right in the Northern Hemisphere) is very similar to that of the Stokes drift. For this reason, the differences between Stokes drift and the wind drift are examined using a vector comparison. The directional components of Stokes drift and the wind drift are found to be very similar although the magnitudes of the wind drift are found to be larger. When swell not associated with the local wind is present, however, the two drifts have significantly different directional components. Horizontal surface trajectories are computed for different atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Trajectory results are compared to satellite-derived oil locations using a center of mass comparison method. Analysis of trajectory forecasts and observed oil locations suggests that Stokes drift might play an important role in the movement of oil at the surface and that the magnitude of the wind drift may not be as large as most models presume. Key
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0017
Format: Thesis

Title: The Language of Tragedy: A Study of Inherent Performativity in the Dialogue of Seneca's Thyestes.
Creator: Hoffman, Michael, Classics- Greek and Latin
Abstract/Description: No good stylistic analysis of the dialogue of Senecan tragedy has been produced for any of Seneca's plays. This paper begins by providing a metrical breakdown of the iambic trimeter used in Senecan tragedy and, specifically, in the Thyestes and continues in later chapters to discuss conclusions drawn from this analysis. The general conclusion is that Seneca's iambic trimeter revolves around a matriculated pattern of metrical feet but often branches off from this pattern to create a multitude...
Show moreNo good stylistic analysis of the dialogue of Senecan tragedy has been produced for any of Seneca's plays. This paper begins by providing a metrical breakdown of the iambic trimeter used in Senecan tragedy and, specifically, in the Thyestes and continues in later chapters to discuss conclusions drawn from this analysis. The general conclusion is that Seneca's iambic trimeter revolves around a matriculated pattern of metrical feet but often branches off from this pattern to create a multitude of variations. These variations are examined to see whether their presence corresponds with especial moments of performativity within the text, and the result is that they generally do. Other stylistic features are then discussed, such as line-breaks between speakers during stichomythic sections of the Thyestes. In general this paper demonstrates how Seneca's Thyestes is well-suited to oral performance, due to the interplay between its aurally significant stylistic features and the subject matter they express.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0018
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Gender, Religiosity, and Partianship on Support for the Supreme Court's Decision in Gonzales v. Carhart (2007).
Creator: Hofheimer, Alison, Political Science
Abstract/Description: This research investigates the effects of gender, religiosity, and partisanship on the public"s support for Gonzales v. Carhart (2007). This Supreme Court decision upheld Congress"s 2003 Partial Birth Abortion ban, effectively prohibiting women from seeking and doctors from performing this specific type of abortion procedure. The Court broke from precedent in a dramatic and controversial way because it was the first time in history that the Court upheld a restriction on abortion that...
Show moreThis research investigates the effects of gender, religiosity, and partisanship on the public"s support for Gonzales v. Carhart (2007). This Supreme Court decision upheld Congress"s 2003 Partial Birth Abortion ban, effectively prohibiting women from seeking and doctors from performing this specific type of abortion procedure. The Court broke from precedent in a dramatic and controversial way because it was the first time in history that the Court upheld a restriction on abortion that contained no exception for the health of the mother. Data was obtained from a NBC and Wall Street Journal 2007 survey, which asked respondents if they favored the Court"s ruling in Gonzales. There were two versions of the question each of which was asked to half of the respondents. The first version of the question is referred to in this paper as the nondescript version because it contained no information beyond asking respondents if they favored the Court"s ruling. The second version is referred to as the informative version because its question stem contained several important considerations which are likely to have impacted respondents" answers. This research found that religiosity and partisanship have important effects on public opinion on partial birth abortion, with people who attend church more frequently and people who identify themselves as Republicans favoring the Court"s decision more. The results for gender were inconclusive. Keywords:
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0019
Format: Thesis

Title: A Sensitive, Specific, and Robust Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assy (elisa) for Macadamia Nut Seed Protein Detection.
Creator: Katz, Julia, Nutrition, Food, & Exercise Science
Abstract/Description: This research project focused on macadamia nut detection. Two specific aims were proposed: (i) develop a competitive inhibition ELISA with a sensitivity of 10 ppm (ii) assess the assay specificity and robustness. The assay specificity of the rabbit anti-macadamia pAb-based ELISA was evaluated by determining assay interference by several select food matrices. The assay robustness was assessed by determining its ability to detect the presence of proteins in variously processed nut seeds. The...
Show moreThis research project focused on macadamia nut detection. Two specific aims were proposed: (i) develop a competitive inhibition ELISA with a sensitivity of 10 ppm (ii) assess the assay specificity and robustness. The assay specificity of the rabbit anti-macadamia pAb-based ELISA was evaluated by determining assay interference by several select food matrices. The assay robustness was assessed by determining its ability to detect the presence of proteins in variously processed nut seeds. The optimized ELISA has a detection range of 3.2 to 400 ng of macadamia nut protein/mL of BSB. The protein G-purified rabbit anti-macadamia nut protein polyclonal antibodies did not exhibit detectable cross-reactivity with tested protein extracts prepared from several seed and food matrices. The assay was able to detect the seed proteins extracted from macadamia nut seeds subjected to select thermal processing methods.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0020
Format: Thesis

Title: Against Consequentialism: The Wrongness of Impartiality.
Creator: Jones, Nathaniel, Philosophy
Abstract/Description: The most important objective of this paper is to provide a clear and detailed overview of Consequentialism and to show one way in which it is mistaken in its moral prescriptions. While there may be many criticisms of Consequentialism, our focus here will be on the apparent problem it has when dealing with issues of Special Relationships, namely the obligations one may have to family, friends, and any promises he may have made. This criticism will simply be called the Problem of Special...
Show moreThe most important objective of this paper is to provide a clear and detailed overview of Consequentialism and to show one way in which it is mistaken in its moral prescriptions. While there may be many criticisms of Consequentialism, our focus here will be on the apparent problem it has when dealing with issues of Special Relationships, namely the obligations one may have to family, friends, and any promises he may have made. This criticism will simply be called the Problem of Special Relationships. I must first introduce Consequentialism, explain what it entails, show what the Problem of Special Relationships is, and finally go through two replies from Act-Consequentialism and one from Rule Consequentialism.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0021
Format: Thesis

Title: First Language Grammar Proficiency and Language Aptitude: Predictors of Choice and Success in a Second Language.
Creator: Kinch, Abra, Modern Languages and Linguistics
Abstract/Description: This project investigates the relationships between native language grammar proficiency, language aptitude, and success in learning a second language. It builds on the research of Jim Cummins with the Developmental Interdependence Hypothesis (1979; 1982) which claims that success in a second language follows closely with the success and skills developed in one's native, or first, language and that success can be predicted according to these skills. This study hypothesizes that native language...
Show moreThis project investigates the relationships between native language grammar proficiency, language aptitude, and success in learning a second language. It builds on the research of Jim Cummins with the Developmental Interdependence Hypothesis (1979; 1982) which claims that success in a second language follows closely with the success and skills developed in one's native, or first, language and that success can be predicted according to these skills. This study hypothesizes that native language (English in this case) grammar proficiency will predict success in a student's second language. Numerous studies have shown that language aptitude is a measure that can also predict success in a second language, but this study posits that perhaps aptitude also tends to lead students to self-choose harder languages (the difficulty of languages in this study is defined by the Department of Defense). This study also predicts that there exists a correlation between native language grammar proficiency and language aptitude. To test this, an English grammar proficiency test and an abbreviated language aptitude test were given to 122 students studying one of five languages at Florida State University. The languages varied in difficulty and included Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, and Spanish. The students' grades were used to measure success. There exists a correlation between English grammar proficiency and success in the target language and between English grammar proficiency and language aptitude, as well as a correlation between language aptitude and choice of language difficulty.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0022
Format: Thesis

Title: Propagation of a Theatrical Ligthing control signal over an IEEE 802.11 Network.
Creator: Kinch, Devin, Theater
Abstract/Description: The use of commercial manufactured wireless lighting control relays is financially inhibitive. The aim of this study is to explore the development of a wireless lighting control link that will operate within an IEEE 802.11 network and utilize commercial off-the-shelf OEM components and network infrastructure. In this thesis the development of wireless hardware necessary for interfacing the lighting control protocol with the wireless network is proposed. The hypothesis of this study is that...
Show moreThe use of commercial manufactured wireless lighting control relays is financially inhibitive. The aim of this study is to explore the development of a wireless lighting control link that will operate within an IEEE 802.11 network and utilize commercial off-the-shelf OEM components and network infrastructure. In this thesis the development of wireless hardware necessary for interfacing the lighting control protocol with the wireless network is proposed. The hypothesis of this study is that the use of commercially available parts will drastically reduce the research and development cost of wireless control hardware and as such allow for a low cost alternative to the costly commercially developed devices.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0023
Format: Thesis

Title: Naked Ballerinas in Flight.
Creator: Lewis, Karlanna, English - Creative Writing
Abstract/Description: Through a collection of imagistic poems, themes of humanity, dance, and their surreal intersection are explored. While dance is a wordless art, a creation through fleeting images of the body, I use words to recreate and preserve the evanescent nature of dance. My poetry focuses on ballerinas, flight, and the body, and how transformation takes place both in ballet and in the world. The interconnectedness of all things is expressed through leaping language, with yearning to connect and to halt...
Show moreThrough a collection of imagistic poems, themes of humanity, dance, and their surreal intersection are explored. While dance is a wordless art, a creation through fleeting images of the body, I use words to recreate and preserve the evanescent nature of dance. My poetry focuses on ballerinas, flight, and the body, and how transformation takes place both in ballet and in the world. The interconnectedness of all things is expressed through leaping language, with yearning to connect and to halt time. What I explore in this manuscript is what makes ballet a special art form. The similarity of dancers to birds and other creatures of flight such as dragonflies and fireflies is considered through fantastical imaginings. The ultimate goal is to wed the diverse disciplines of poetry and dance, and closer unite the variety of human expressions and experiences. By looking at the spiritual nature of dance and the mysterious and physical side, I hope to reveal truths about human existence. On the canvas of the mind words paint a kaleidoscopic collage, much as bodies do on stage. Much as a dancer's practiced silhouette enchants, so too does the right word in poetry. Both in a simple and ancient way moderate the age of machine.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0024
Format: Thesis

Title: The Cost of Safety: Negotiating the Trade-Off between Safety and Growth.
Creator: Matechik, Christopher, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: To avoid the threat of predation, prey can alter their behavior such as moving from habitats where predation risk is high to those where it is low. However, such behaviors may involve a tradeoff if the low risk habitats are suboptimal feeding locations for the prey compared to the high risk ones. In seagrass, pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) often move from low- to high-blade density patches in the presence of the predatory Gulf flounder (Paralichthys albigutta). However, restricted movements in...
Show moreTo avoid the threat of predation, prey can alter their behavior such as moving from habitats where predation risk is high to those where it is low. However, such behaviors may involve a tradeoff if the low risk habitats are suboptimal feeding locations for the prey compared to the high risk ones. In seagrass, pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) often move from low- to high-blade density patches in the presence of the predatory Gulf flounder (Paralichthys albigutta). However, restricted movements in high-blade habitats may lead to reduced foraging efficiency and growth rates. I used a field experiment that ran for 28 days to examine this potential tradeoff between survival and growth. Neither predator presence nor seagrass blade density affected survival or growth in pinfish. However, after accounting for the loss of experimental replicates at lower grass-blade densities, the change in pinfish biomass was greater in the predator-present treatment compared to the controls, suggesting higher mortality, increased vigilance or both when flounder were present. Unfortunately, loss of experimental replicates and high variance in the measured responses hindered my ability to address the potential tradeoff, but suggestive results support further examination.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0025
Format: Thesis

Title: The Evaluation of Industrial Methods of Size-Exclusion Chromatography (SEC) of Difficult-to-Dissolve Polymers.
Creator: McNeel, Kelsey, Chemistry
Abstract/Description: In experiments presented here, well-characterized polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) standards were analyzed using size-exclusion chromatography and an approach in which the mobile phase differed from the solvent in which the polymer was dissolved. Solvent combinations included a mobile phase in which the polymer was insoluble and a mobile phase that was immiscible with the solvent. It is important to determine the accuracy of molar mass averages and distributions obtained from such...
Show moreIn experiments presented here, well-characterized polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate) standards were analyzed using size-exclusion chromatography and an approach in which the mobile phase differed from the solvent in which the polymer was dissolved. Solvent combinations included a mobile phase in which the polymer was insoluble and a mobile phase that was immiscible with the solvent. It is important to determine the accuracy of molar mass averages and distributions obtained from such experiments because the averages and distributions are frequently used in industry to give information about physical properties of the analyte. It is often expensive and time consuming to determine the ideal solvent in which to analyze a polymer, and even more so to purge the system of the previous solvent and condition it with the new one. To circumnavigate these problems, polymers are sometimes dissolved in a known solvent and injected into an instrument containing a chemically different mobile phase, a mobile phase that is already in the instrument. We found that performing experiments using this industrial approach needs to be done with caution. The molar mass averages and distributions can be determined accurately when the mobile phase is a solvent for the polymer and miscible with the solvent, but other cases were less conclusive. Using a mobile phase that is not a solvent for the polymer appears to yield accurate results for low molar mass polymers (<20,000 g/mol) but, in some solvent combinations, yields exclusively solvent peaks. It is likely that the larger polymers precipitate when the miscible solvent and mobile phase mix and the polymers are adsorbed onto the column. Experiment set 5, in which the mobile phase was a solvent for the polymer but was immiscible with the solvent in which the polymer was dissolved, yielded no peaks in these experiments. It is hypothesized that this lack of peaks is a result of enthalpic interactions between the stationary phase, sample solution, and mobile phase. It appears that the elution of the polymer may not be driven by entropic interactions, as is the case in a size-exclusion mechanism, resulting in the co-elution of the polymer and the solvent.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0026
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effect of Cognitive Load on Distraction During Visual Search.
Creator: Michaud, Katryne, Psychology
Abstract/Description: Salient visual features have been known to capture attention, but there is disagreement regarding why these features capture attention (because of their bottom-up salience/uniqueness or the goals of the observer). To explore whether attention capture is truly a bottom-up, stimulus-driven, and automatic effect, Boot, Brockmole, & Simons (2005) added an auditory task to a traditional attention capture paradigm. In single task conditions, they found that onsets (objects that appear suddenly) and...
Show moreSalient visual features have been known to capture attention, but there is disagreement regarding why these features capture attention (because of their bottom-up salience/uniqueness or the goals of the observer). To explore whether attention capture is truly a bottom-up, stimulus-driven, and automatic effect, Boot, Brockmole, & Simons (2005) added an auditory task to a traditional attention capture paradigm. In single task conditions, they found that onsets (objects that appear suddenly) and color singletons (items of a unique color compared to the items around them) captured attention. However, when participants also had to listen to the auditory task, the degree to which these distractors captured attention changed (onsets capture was eliminated while color singleton capture increased). These findings challenge the notion that capture is stimulus-driven and automatic; the search display was exactly the same in single and dual-task situations. However, it was puzzling why onsets decreased in their ability to capture attention while color singletons increased under the same dual-task conditions. Boot, Brockmole, & Simons (2005) proposed a transience hypothesis: transient singletons like an onset require cognitive resources to be recognized as being unique, while sustained distractors such as color-singletons required cognitive resources to suppress. We tested this hypothesis with onset distractors that were either the same as the other distractors in the display, or onset distractors that also had a unique shape. Contrary to predictions, neither had the ability to capture attention under dual-task load. Results do not support stimulus-driven accounts of attention capture. Theoretical and practical significance is discussed.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0027
Format: Thesis

Title: Characterization of Maize Transgene-Reactivated Mutants.
Creator: Mills, Erica, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: Epigenetic gene regulation results from heritable changes in chromatin structure, DNA methylation, and/or histone modifications associated with different expression levels for endogenous genes and transgenes. The silent b1 transgene (Btg-s) can be used to study epigenetic gene regulation in maize. A forward genetics screen based on the reactivation of Btg-s was conducted using EMS mutagenized maize. Through this screen, several mutants reactivating the transgene, designated transgene...
Show moreEpigenetic gene regulation results from heritable changes in chromatin structure, DNA methylation, and/or histone modifications associated with different expression levels for endogenous genes and transgenes. The silent b1 transgene (Btg-s) can be used to study epigenetic gene regulation in maize. A forward genetics screen based on the reactivation of Btg-s was conducted using EMS mutagenized maize. Through this screen, several mutants reactivating the transgene, designated transgene reactivated (tgr), were identified. Published work demonstrates that mutations affecting proteins involved in the RNA-dependent DNA methylation pathway cause transgene reactivation. Such mutations result in characteristic phenotypes, such as a loss of DNA methylation, loss of siRNA accumulation, and loss of transcriptional silencing. To investigate Btg promoter methylation in the tgr mutants, bisulfite sequencing was performed on plants with silenced and reactivated transgenes from four lines of tgr mutants (tgr1-3,11). Results show that in three mutant lines, the promoter region had higher methylation levels in silenced plants compared to reactivated plants, while another mutant had similar levels of methylation in both phenotypes. For tgr2, siRNA levels were assayed and transcript abundance was evaluated for genes encoding proteins possibly involved in the methylation pathway. It was found that tgr2 showed no loss of siRNA production and no difference in transcript levels were observed between silenced and reactivated individuals for the genes evaluated. This work aided in characterizing the tgr mutants which are potentially strong tools for understanding epigenetic regulation of transgenes.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0028
Format: Thesis

Title: The Interrogation of the American Dream in Stephen Sondheim's Assassins.
Creator: Miskoff, Ashley, Theater
Abstract/Description: Assassins is a truly American musical. Sondheim shares the stories of some of the most infamous assassins in American History in an untraditional way. Through ballads, duets, monologues, and scenes, Sondheim gives a voice to some unconventional protagonists. Assassins also holds a mirror up to American society as Sondheim tries to uncover a deeper reasoning behind why these assassins committed these American tragedies. My paper will focus on three major themes found in Assassins. First, the...
Show moreAssassins is a truly American musical. Sondheim shares the stories of some of the most infamous assassins in American History in an untraditional way. Through ballads, duets, monologues, and scenes, Sondheim gives a voice to some unconventional protagonists. Assassins also holds a mirror up to American society as Sondheim tries to uncover a deeper reasoning behind why these assassins committed these American tragedies. My paper will focus on three major themes found in Assassins. First, the indictment of the American Dream is an overarching theme in Assassins. Sondheim reveals some of the faults in this idea and shows the consequences American Dream has on the assassins. Second, the feelings of disaffection and loneliness among the assassins is a key theme in understanding a common thread among the assassins and what that may contribute to assassination. Third, the importance of media image and attention that the assassins and the American people in the play share is an important theme to examine. It shows how the growing reliance on media and the constant need for attention that American culture thrives on negatively affects both the assassins and the American people. Assassins is a thought provoking musical that will stand the test of time. 21 years after Assassins opened off Broadway it still has contemporary relevance to today's society. Stephen Sondheim's Assassins discusses important American issues and creates a necessary dialogue for contemporary American audiences.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0029
Format: Thesis

Title: Resilency among Third Graders and their Classmates and Associations with Reading Skill Gains.
Creator: Morris, Falyn, Psychology
Abstract/Description: This study examined if indicators of resilience were associated with students' reading skill gains and whether the resilience of classmates was associated with students' literacy learning overall. Third grade students (n=478) from a large, diverse school district were given a battery of assessments. The indicators of resilience measured were the Social Skills and Problem Behaviors scores on the Social Skills Rating System, the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA), the picture...
Show moreThis study examined if indicators of resilience were associated with students' reading skill gains and whether the resilience of classmates was associated with students' literacy learning overall. Third grade students (n=478) from a large, diverse school district were given a battery of assessments. The indicators of resilience measured were the Social Skills and Problem Behaviors scores on the Social Skills Rating System, the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA), the picture vocabulary subtest of the Woodcock- Johnson Tests of Achievement III, and the Woodcock-Johnson Passage Comprehension test. To categorize the poverty level of the schools, the percentage of students qualifying for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program (FARL) was used. Stronger skills on one indicator were correlated with strong skills on other indicators. Resilience indicators were higher at schools where fewer students qualified for FARL, except on the Emotion Scale Standard Score. A factor analysis of the entire sample revealed two variables. There was a Teacher and Student Perception of resilience, and these were used in remaining analyses. In schools with a FARL of greater than 50%, students who displayed higher scores on the Teacher Perception indicators of resilience also demonstrated greater gains in reading skills compared to students with lower scores for resilience. When looking at the impact of classmates' resilience, the relationship between the spring Passage Comprehension scores and the class factor of resilience was not significant.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0030
Format: Thesis

Title: Clarifying the Association Between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Suicidal Behavior.
Creator: Moskowitz, Amanda, Psychology
Abstract/Description: Despite the high prevalence of suicide attempts amongst individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Kamath et al., 2007), the relationship between OCD and suicidality is under researched and studies have reported contradictory results. In the present project, we examine the connection between OCD symptoms and suicidal behavior through the lens of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (Joiner, 2005). In particular, we examine the role of painful and provocative experiences specific to OCD –...
Show moreDespite the high prevalence of suicide attempts amongst individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Kamath et al., 2007), the relationship between OCD and suicidality is under researched and studies have reported contradictory results. In the present project, we examine the connection between OCD symptoms and suicidal behavior through the lens of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (Joiner, 2005). In particular, we examine the role of painful and provocative experiences specific to OCD – specifically, painful compulsive behaviors – that may enhance the acquired capability for suicide. We predicted that OCD symptoms that elicit physical pain (i.e. compulsive behaviors) would be associated with suicidality and acquired capability. Additionally, we predicted that depressive symptoms would be a partial mediator between OCD and suicidal behavior. Our findings suggest that there is a significant, positive association between many OCD symptoms and suicidality. We did not find evidence for the role of compulsivity as a factor increasing the acquired capability or suicidal symptoms, when controlling for OCD and depressive symptoms. In line with our hypothesis, depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between OCD symptoms and suicidality. Implications and future directions are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0031
Format: Thesis

Title: Crosstalk between Chromatin Structure and DNA Methylation and the Regulation of DNA Templated Processes.
Creator: Noori, Tarreq, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: Methylation of DNA is one of the earliest described epigenetic modifications. Hypermethylation is associated with gene silencing, while the inhibition of methylation is generally associated with reactivating silenced genes. The packaging of DNA in the nucleus into chromatin also plays a role in regulating gene expression. We sought to understand the crosstalk between changes in methylation status of the genome and changes in chromatin structure. 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), a potent DNA...
Show moreMethylation of DNA is one of the earliest described epigenetic modifications. Hypermethylation is associated with gene silencing, while the inhibition of methylation is generally associated with reactivating silenced genes. The packaging of DNA in the nucleus into chromatin also plays a role in regulating gene expression. We sought to understand the crosstalk between changes in methylation status of the genome and changes in chromatin structure. 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), a potent DNA methytransferase inhibitor, has recently generated interest as a potential anti-cancer drug, possibly functioning by reactivating silenced tumor suppressor genes. We treated the hematologic cancer cell lines U-937 and T-HP1 with 5-aza for varying lengths of time. We then harvested DNA for methylation studies, RNA for gene expression studies and chromatin for nuclease accessibility studies. The chromatin accessibility was further measured at two different levels of resolution; the domain level (10s of kb) and nucleosome position (10s of bp). This was achieved using an innovative DNA microarray assay. Results were analyzed to correlate changes in chromatin structure with changes in methylation and gene expression. We have identified that the class II, major histocompatibility complex, transactivator (CIITA) shows chromatin structural changes. The results provide a model for understanding the regulatory chromatin structure involved in the immune response.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0032
Format: Thesis

Title: The Effects of Repeated Checking on Responsibility for Harm Appraisals.
Creator: Oglesby, Mary, Psychology
Abstract/Description: Research has found that individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) report heightened levels of responsibility for harm when compared to anxious and non-clinical control subjects (Cougle, Lee, & Salkovskis, 2007). Responsibility for harm is hypothesized to have a causal role in the disorder, but inflated responsibility may also be a consequence of OCD symptoms. The aim of the current study was to test the effects of repeated checking, a common compulsion for individuals with OCD, on...
Show moreResearch has found that individuals with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) report heightened levels of responsibility for harm when compared to anxious and non-clinical control subjects (Cougle, Lee, & Salkovskis, 2007). Responsibility for harm is hypothesized to have a causal role in the disorder, but inflated responsibility may also be a consequence of OCD symptoms. The aim of the current study was to test the effects of repeated checking, a common compulsion for individuals with OCD, on responsibility for harm appraisals. Following the completion of several self-report measures, including an instrument assessing threat estimation and responsibility beliefs, non-clinical participants (N=101) were randomized into one of three conditions: 1) 20 checks on a functional, electric stove, 2) 20 checks on four water bottles, or 3) a combination 10 water bottle checks followed by 10 stove checks. Ratings of responsibility for harm related to the stove were taken at baseline and following task completion. Moderator analyses indicated that, among participants with lower threat estimation and responsibility beliefs, both stove checking conditions experienced greater responsibility for harm following the checking task compared to the water bottle checking condition. Among those participants high in threat estimation and responsibility, no differences in post-task responsibility ratings were found between conditions. Overall, these findings suggest that inflated responsibility beliefs may be both a cause and a consequence of compulsive checking.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0033
Format: Thesis

Title: Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Prevent Nucleosome Redistribution at Transcription Start Sites.
Creator: Pickeral, Crystal, Biological Science
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0034
Format: Thesis

Title: Medium Effects on the Photoisomerization of Trans, Trans-1, 4-Diphenyl-1, 3-Butadiene.
Creator: Redwood, Christopher, Chemistry
Abstract/Description: Photoisomerization of trans,trans-1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene (tt-DPB) has been rigorously studied with the assumption that torsion about the excited state is the sole radiationless decay pathway in competition with fluorescence12, 13, 14. This assumption is questioned and tested as it disregards the many channels for photochemical radiationless deactivation of the excited state, which have been rigorously studied33. Irradiation of tt-DPB in acetonitrile, cyclohexane, decane, ethanol,...
Show morePhotoisomerization of trans,trans-1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene (tt-DPB) has been rigorously studied with the assumption that torsion about the excited state is the sole radiationless decay pathway in competition with fluorescence12, 13, 14. This assumption is questioned and tested as it disregards the many channels for photochemical radiationless deactivation of the excited state, which have been rigorously studied33. Irradiation of tt-DPB in acetonitrile, cyclohexane, decane, ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, methanol, and methylcyclohexane was performed and monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Notably, it is found that trans to cis photoisomerization is occurs faster than alcohol photoaddition from the excited state of tt-DPB. Additionally, methods for automatic baseline correction of degassed samples are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0035
Format: Thesis

Title: The Media, Belief Updating, and Iraq's Missing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Program.
Creator: Sanfilippo, Samantha, Political Science
Abstract/Description: Do individuals update their opinions when faced with new information? More specifically, does media coverage affect factual beliefs on foreign policy issues? These questions are directly related to theories of information processing, like Bayesian updating or motivated reasoning, which I plan to address in two empirical studies. First, using cross-sectional survey data from 2003 and 2004 Gallup polls, I conduct an over time study of public opinion on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)...
Show moreDo individuals update their opinions when faced with new information? More specifically, does media coverage affect factual beliefs on foreign policy issues? These questions are directly related to theories of information processing, like Bayesian updating or motivated reasoning, which I plan to address in two empirical studies. First, using cross-sectional survey data from 2003 and 2004 Gallup polls, I conduct an over time study of public opinion on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program. Next, I use a technique known as within-survey/within-subjects counterfactual comparisons (Barabas and Jerit 2009) on the same dataset to study the effects of media coverage on the public's perceptions about many different aspects of the Iraqi WMD program (everything from nuclear devices, to chemical and biological weapons, and potential links to al Qaeda). All of these analyses are possible thanks to a unique set of questions that capture opinions, the certainty with which individuals hold their belief, and a collection of media data surrounding the survey. Overall, the results suggest that individuals tend to revise their beliefs in a manner consistent with the Bayesian theoretical perspective.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0036
Format: Thesis

Title: Maternal Mortality in Tamil Nadu, India.
Creator: Sharma, Supraja, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: Maternal mortality is a worldwide problem affecting millions of women, often unnecessarily. Target 5 of the UN's Millennium Development Goals involves the reduction of the maternal mortality ratio by 75% along with provision of universal access to reproductive health. India bears the largest amount of maternal deaths for any single country in the world. Although the country as a whole is not projected to reach its target maternal mortality ratio, some of its states have been able to lower the...
Show moreMaternal mortality is a worldwide problem affecting millions of women, often unnecessarily. Target 5 of the UN's Millennium Development Goals involves the reduction of the maternal mortality ratio by 75% along with provision of universal access to reproductive health. India bears the largest amount of maternal deaths for any single country in the world. Although the country as a whole is not projected to reach its target maternal mortality ratio, some of its states have been able to lower the rate considerably. Tamil Nadu is one of the best performers in the country in terms of maternal mortality. This paper seeks to examine the reasons for the state's success and how these measures can be applied to India as a whole. The focus is placed on factors such as emergency obstetric care (EOC), midwives (both auxiliary nurse midwives [ANC] and dais [traditional midwives]), prenatal and antenatal care, medically terminated pregnancy (MTP), over-medicalization of birth, as well as local customs and rituals associated with pregnancy.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0037
Format: Thesis

Title: A Case Study of a Hybrid Cyclone: 6-9 September 2009.
Creator: Sliwinski, Timothy, Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science
Abstract/Description: Hybrid cyclones, such as subtropical storms and warm seclusions, are generally defined by the fact that they contain characteristics of the main types of cyclones: tropical and extratropical. This case study examines whether a cyclone can be considered hybrid without experiencing a transition from either of these two main types. The case in question occurred between 6 and 9 September 2009 before becoming frontal. The cyclone formed independently of other cyclones and was shallow warm-core at...
Show moreHybrid cyclones, such as subtropical storms and warm seclusions, are generally defined by the fact that they contain characteristics of the main types of cyclones: tropical and extratropical. This case study examines whether a cyclone can be considered hybrid without experiencing a transition from either of these two main types. The case in question occurred between 6 and 9 September 2009 before becoming frontal. The cyclone formed independently of other cyclones and was shallow warm-core at its start. It would go on to exhibit properties of tropical cyclones such as a stacked surface warm-core and even convection occurring at the center. It would also go on to exhibit properties of extratropical cyclones by strengthening whenever an upper-level shortwave came near, increasing baroclinicity. This study looks at the large-scale patterns of development and utilizes the diagnostic properties of the terms of the quasi-geostrophic omega equation to understand the forcings in the area of the cyclone as depicted in the North American Regional Reanalysis. In addition, cyclone phase diagrams were generated for other analyses to determine whether the characteristics depict hybrid, extratropical, tropical, or subtropical development based on the parameters of thermal wind and thermal symmetry. It was found that the system was a hybrid system in that a warm-core surface cyclone did exist from the surface to 500 hPa; however upper-level short waves about an upper-level trough were responsible for providing forcing for the genesis and strengthening of this storm.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0038
Format: Thesis

Title: Torture and States: A Physical Integrity Rights Violation Tradeoff?.
Creator: Spicer, Margaret, Political Science
Abstract/Description: Under what conditions do states torture? While many theories exist to answer this question, I focus on one - the violation of physical integrity rights. There are four types of physical integrity rights: torture, extrajudicial execution, political disappearance, and political imprisonment. In this paper I posit that there is no tradeoff between torture and the other three types of physical integrity rights; that is, when one violation occurs, other violations are NOT less likely to occur. I...
Show moreUnder what conditions do states torture? While many theories exist to answer this question, I focus on one - the violation of physical integrity rights. There are four types of physical integrity rights: torture, extrajudicial execution, political disappearance, and political imprisonment. In this paper I posit that there is no tradeoff between torture and the other three types of physical integrity rights; that is, when one violation occurs, other violations are NOT less likely to occur. I formulated my hypothesis using the foundations of Powell and Staton"s 2009 article, and I tested the hypothesis by running a bivariate probit regression on a country-year dataset of 113 countries with a temporal domain of 1995 to 2005. The results showed support for my hypothesis, opening up a wide range of implications for policy makers and human rights practitioners.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0039
Format: Thesis

Title: Amygdala Mechanisms Involved in Chemosensory Communication.
Creator: Stroe, Ioana, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: The amygdala is an almond-shaped region of the brain present in many vertebrates such as human, hamsters and mice. The amygdala is composed of several parts, of which the following are most relevant to my research: the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the posterior medial amygdala (MeP). The BLA functions in learning and shows increased activation after the mouse has learned a behavior. The lateral paracapsular nuclei of the intercalated nucleus (ICNlpcn) project inhibitory neurons into the BLA...
Show moreThe amygdala is an almond-shaped region of the brain present in many vertebrates such as human, hamsters and mice. The amygdala is composed of several parts, of which the following are most relevant to my research: the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the posterior medial amygdala (MeP). The BLA functions in learning and shows increased activation after the mouse has learned a behavior. The lateral paracapsular nuclei of the intercalated nucleus (ICNlpcn) project inhibitory neurons into the BLA and mediate its activity. Dopamine has been shown to inhibit the lpcn group and therefore relieve inhibition of the BLA (disinhibition). Dopamine also acts directly in the BLA to increase activation. Therefore, if a mouse is conditioned to prefer a particular odor (in this case steer urine), dopamine injection will cause an increase in BLA activation after learning due to both disinhibition and direct excitatory response. The medial posterior amygdala in the mouse mostly responds to olfactory stimuli from the same species (conspecific stimuli). The MeP is also thought to be under control of another ICN group, the caudal ICN (ICNc). If the same inhibitory relationship is seen between ICNc and MeP, the dopamine injection may cause disinhibition in the MeP and therefore the conditioned steer urine stimulus may show increased activation in the MeP despite being a stimulus from another species (heterospecific stimulus). My experiment tests whether the ICNc has inhibitory control over the MeP, and whether dopamine will cause inhibition in the ICNc and therefore cause disinhibition in the MeP.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0040
Format: Thesis

Title: How Social Media Can be Used to Gain a Competitive Advantage in Political Campaigns.
Creator: Vandercook, Steven, Marketing
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this paper is to understand what is needed to successfully use social media to gain a competitive advantage in a political campaign. Social media on the Internet is a relatively young topic and therefore research has just recently begun to make observations. The underlying factor, however, is the need to develop a marketing strategy that embraces new technology. This paper reviews Erik Qualman's "Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business" and its...
Show moreThe purpose of this paper is to understand what is needed to successfully use social media to gain a competitive advantage in a political campaign. Social media on the Internet is a relatively young topic and therefore research has just recently begun to make observations. The underlying factor, however, is the need to develop a marketing strategy that embraces new technology. This paper reviews Erik Qualman's "Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business" and its in depth coverage of today's social media world. Furthermore, this paper examines the precedent set by President Obama during his 2008 Presidential -social Media- Campaign, how social media then progressed through the 2010 Mid-Term Elections and why social media is a necessary component of any political campaign today. I argue that there are seven requirements for a successful social media to fund raise, go viral, establish a two-way conversation, make it personable, be transparent, and keep it simple.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0041
Format: Thesis

Title: Exploring the Function of 14-3-3 Proteins in Neurodegenerative Disease.
Creator: Vogt, Peggy, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: The two pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's are neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra parc compacta and the presence of Lewy bodies in the surviving neurons. Recent evidence indicates that Lewy bodies share biochemical and morphological similarities with aggresomes, a large juxtanuclear aggregate. In previous studies, we observed that 14-3-3 proteins promote the aggresome formation of α-Synuclein, the main component of Lewy bodies. In this study, we determined 14-3-3 to have a...
Show moreThe two pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's are neurodegeneration in the substantia nigra parc compacta and the presence of Lewy bodies in the surviving neurons. Recent evidence indicates that Lewy bodies share biochemical and morphological similarities with aggresomes, a large juxtanuclear aggregate. In previous studies, we observed that 14-3-3 proteins promote the aggresome formation of α-Synuclein, the main component of Lewy bodies. In this study, we determined 14-3-3 to have a generalized aggresome promoting function by examining two known aggregation-prone proteins, including a mutant form of CFTR and the GFP-250 protein. To assess the isoform specificity of 14-3-3 proteins in this process, we compared the extent of increase in aggresome formation promoted by overexpression of two different 14-3-3 isoforms. Furthermore, we utilized two different mutants to demonstrate that dimerization of 14-3-3 may not be required for its function in the aggresome formation cascade. Taken together, our data indicate that 14-3-3 proteins may play essential critical role in the aggresome formation process. The discovery of the mechanism by which 14-3-3 participates in the aggresome formation cascade may help us to understand pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0042
Format: Thesis

Title: Adaptation of Ultra-Precise Atomic Mass Measurement Techniques to Microwave Spectroscopy on a Single Molecular Ion by Detecting Polarizability Shifts in a Penning Trap.
Creator: Zarrella, Andrew, Physics
Abstract/Description: Using the FSU Ion Penning trap it is possible to measure the ratio of the cyclotron frequencies of two molecular ions to a precision of 0.1 ppb. These cyclotron frequencies can be shifted due to large electric polarizabilities in some molecular ions. Because the polarizability of the molecular ion is dependent on the quantized rotational levels of the molecule, is possible to use the cyclotron frequency shifts detected in our lab to detect transitions between rotational levels. This allows us...
Show moreUsing the FSU Ion Penning trap it is possible to measure the ratio of the cyclotron frequencies of two molecular ions to a precision of 0.1 ppb. These cyclotron frequencies can be shifted due to large electric polarizabilities in some molecular ions. Because the polarizability of the molecular ion is dependent on the quantized rotational levels of the molecule, is possible to use the cyclotron frequency shifts detected in our lab to detect transitions between rotational levels. This allows us to do microwave spectroscopy on single molecular ions. The main goal of this project will be to implement this new method of microwave spectroscopy, by measuring the lambda-type doubling splitting of the diatomic molecular ion, NH+, in its vibrational and rotational ground state.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0043
Format: Thesis

Title: Rescue of a Chlamdydomonas Reinhardtii Mutant.
Creator: Crumbley, Christine, Biological Science
Abstract/Description: This research focuses on the signal transduction pathway involved in acid-induced deflagellation in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. A wild type copy of the 2L15 gene will be amplified and used to create a plasmid. This plasmid will contain a wild type copy of the nitrate reductase gene of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which will serve as a selectable marker, as well as the 2L15 gene. The plasmid will be used to transform Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutants with the hope of rescuing the...
Show moreThis research focuses on the signal transduction pathway involved in acid-induced deflagellation in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. A wild type copy of the 2L15 gene will be amplified and used to create a plasmid. This plasmid will contain a wild type copy of the nitrate reductase gene of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which will serve as a selectable marker, as well as the 2L15 gene. The plasmid will be used to transform Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutants with the hope of rescuing the mutant phenotype.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0044
Format: Thesis

Title: Observation of Neurological Effects of Manganese in the Adult Male Zebra Finch: Is Manganese a Viable Exogenous Contrast Enhancer?.
Creator: Page, David, Physics
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0046
Format: Thesis

Title: Finite Lattice Size Corrections The Energy-Momentum Dispersion.
Creator: McDargh, Zachary, Physics
Abstract/Description: Lattice Gauge Theory (LGT) describes gauge and matter fields on a discrete Euclidian space-time lattice. Due to the finite spacing between the lattice points, there is a built-in ultra-violet energy cutoff. Additionally, there is an infrared energy cutoff in computer simulations due to the finite size of the lattice. With these approximations, the energy-momentum dispersion becomes modified. In this thesis, we study the recovery of the continuous energy-momentum dispersion. We perform fits of...
Show moreLattice Gauge Theory (LGT) describes gauge and matter fields on a discrete Euclidian space-time lattice. Due to the finite spacing between the lattice points, there is a built-in ultra-violet energy cutoff. Additionally, there is an infrared energy cutoff in computer simulations due to the finite size of the lattice. With these approximations, the energy-momentum dispersion becomes modified. In this thesis, we study the recovery of the continuous energy-momentum dispersion. We perform fits of the correlation function fromMarkov ChainMonte Carlo (MCMC) simulations for various lattice sizes and spacings for a free-scalar field and for an Abelian U(1) gauge field. For the scalar field, we also vary the mass of the particles; for U(1) LGT, we vary the coupling constant β. These fits return the energy of a particle at definite momentum, from which the mass can be recovered using the energy-momentum dispersion. It is found that the finite-size effect in MCMC calculations decreases as exp(−N), where N is the space dimension of the lattice. Furthermore, the effect is more significant for larger masses (scalar field) and coupling constant values near the phase transition βc = 1.01 (U(1) LGT).
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0047
Format: Thesis

Title: Healthy Interior Environments in Haitian Orphanage Design.
Creator: Krueger, Amanda, Interior Design
Abstract/Description: Haiti's 2008 hurricane season destroyed upwards of 22,702 homes and damaged another 84,625, for a total of 107,327 homes and 800,000 people impacted (DCHA & OFDA, 2009). Because of the intense rain fall, floods wiped out 70% of Haiti's crops, resulting in the deaths of malnourished, newly-homeless children following the storms (DCHA & OFDA, 2009). These factors, combined with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2010, have intensified the need to provide homeless children with a timely solution to...
Show moreHaiti's 2008 hurricane season destroyed upwards of 22,702 homes and damaged another 84,625, for a total of 107,327 homes and 800,000 people impacted (DCHA & OFDA, 2009). Because of the intense rain fall, floods wiped out 70% of Haiti's crops, resulting in the deaths of malnourished, newly-homeless children following the storms (DCHA & OFDA, 2009). These factors, combined with a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in 2010, have intensified the need to provide homeless children with a timely solution to the lack of orphanage facilities. Swedish oncologist Karl-Henrik Robèrt, an internationally recognized leader on sustainable progress, developed an outline called, "The Natural Step Framework" in 1989, which considers the effects of interior finish material selection on human health. Within this framework, Dr. Robèrt suggests that multiple health problems, predominantly those of children, result from interior finish materials that we are exposed to every day (Robèrt, 2002). This framework is relevant as it relates to researching local interior finish materials in Haiti that have positive effects on orphaned children's health, as opposed to products that will result in increased health problems. It is the goal of this thesis to examine Haiti's natural resources and existing labor situation, investigate opportunities for newer, more sustainable interior finish building materials, and together, how they can positively impact Haitian children's health. The findings will add to the body of knowledge concerning interior finish materials that can aid in the healthy recovery of Haitian children and their orphanages from currently untenable conditions.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0048
Format: Thesis

Title: Justice for Jessica: A Human Rights Case Study on Media Influence, Rule of Law, and Civic Action in India.
Creator: Alvarez, Lisette, Program in International Affairs
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact and implications of various aspects of the Jessica Lal murder trial, understanding that many factors of Indian society contributed to both the murder and the outcome. This paper will focus on a number of specific aspects of the trial and assess their significance for human rights issues: journalism in India, social media and public participation in civic action, Indian film and its direct influence on the trial, structural issues in the...
Show moreThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impact and implications of various aspects of the Jessica Lal murder trial, understanding that many factors of Indian society contributed to both the murder and the outcome. This paper will focus on a number of specific aspects of the trial and assess their significance for human rights issues: journalism in India, social media and public participation in civic action, Indian film and its direct influence on the trial, structural issues in the police and judicial system, purpose and actions of local and international human rights organizations, and the ongoing 2011 anti-corruption movement in India. However, in order to properly contextualize the Jessica Lal case and its components within modern Indian society, it is necessary to identify a number of other criminal cases that are similar in relation to social issues. As a human rights study of a political and social phenomenon, this paper will attempt to answer certain questions: In what way does the modern use of technology and social media impact journalism and social activism? Is there a culture of violence against women in India, and if so, why, and how is it viewed in India? What successes and problems have Indian society encountered in terms of minimizing corruption in the police and judicial system? The paper will examine as well as look for the different answers to these questions in a format that engages many contributing factors that aid in the explanation, reasoning, and definition of human rights issues in India.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0049
Format: Thesis

Title: Multi-Decadal Variations of Durations of Extreme Temperatures in the Southeastern United States.
Creator: Worsnop, Rochelle, Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science
Abstract/Description: The number of extreme temperature occurrences and their durations in the southeast United States varies during three periods: the Warm Regime subset (WRs), the Cold Regime subset (CRs), and the Modern Record (MR). Multidecadal variations in the regional patterns of the counts and durations of summer-day and winter-day extremes reveal that during the MR, the extreme temperature counts and durations in Florida are more consistent with a WRs setup whereas these parameters for the inland states ...
Show moreThe number of extreme temperature occurrences and their durations in the southeast United States varies during three periods: the Warm Regime subset (WRs), the Cold Regime subset (CRs), and the Modern Record (MR). Multidecadal variations in the regional patterns of the counts and durations of summer-day and winter-day extremes reveal that during the MR, the extreme temperature counts and durations in Florida are more consistent with a WRs setup whereas these parameters for the inland states (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina) are more consistent with a CRs setup. We also found that during the CRs (WRs), the majority of stations show a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of exactly one winter-day (summer-day) extreme occurrence. During the MR, both inland and coastal stations show a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of exactly one winter-day occurrence. This increased likelihood is not seen during the MR for a summer-day extreme occurrence. Patterns in the behavior of summer-day and winter-day extremes during the CRs and WRs may provide insight about how extreme temperatures will behave in future periods, if the period is forecasted to have similar setups to that of the CRs or WRs. Insight about the duration and counts of extreme temperatures is useful to the agricultural community, power industries, and health officials.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0050
Format: Thesis

Title: Carbon Nanotype Composite Sample Preparation by Using Microtome for TEM Analysis.
Creator: Trayner, Sarah, Engineering - Industrial
Abstract/Description: Transmission Electron Microscope, or TEM, is one of the most valuable tools used in materials science today. It is valuable because it allows the observer to study materials at an atomic level. However, TEM needs to use extremely thin samples (
Show moreTransmission Electron Microscope, or TEM, is one of the most valuable tools used in materials science today. It is valuable because it allows the observer to study materials at an atomic level. However, TEM needs to use extremely thin samples (< 50 nm) for electron beam transparency. There are various methods such as crushing, ion beam thinning, ultramicrotomy, cryo-ultramicrotomy, etc. used to obtain an adequate sample for TEM analysis. But to produce quality TEM samples is very challenging due to the huge characteristics differences of various materials. This research is an effort to study the effects of cutting parameters via ultra-microtome on TEM sample quality for carbon nanotube (CNT) composite samples. The CNT composite samples of focus are the nanotube yarn composites. Because nanotubes exhibit extreme strength and stiffness, appropriate cutting parameters should be chosen according to the material properties. During sample preparation, the nanotube yarn composite was embedded longitudinally in Armorstar resin and then cut using the microtome. The results showed that the parameters chosen did not lead to obtaining good TEM samples when comparing to the baseline TEM images. This is most likely due to the fact that the experimental sample is a nanotube yarn composite. Each experimental sample cutting block had three very small nanotube yarn composites embedded longitudinally in the Armorstar resin. When cutting the block using the ultra-microtome, only a small part of the nanotube yarn was cut compared to the overall sample surface area. As a result, obtaining a uniformly thin sample becomes challenging due to the cross section of the cutting block may have large property variations. Further study on the cutting block preparation and cutting parameters are needed.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0051
Format: Thesis

Title: AP Student Visual Preferences for Problem Solving.
Creator: Swoyer, Liesl, Department of Statistics
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this study is to explore the mathematical preference of high school AP Calculus students by examining their tendencies for using differing methods of thought. A student's preferred mode of thinking was measured on a scale ranging from a preference for analytical thought to a preference for visual thought as they completed derivative and antiderivative tasks presented both algebraically and graphically. This relates to previous studies by continuing to analyze the factors that...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to explore the mathematical preference of high school AP Calculus students by examining their tendencies for using differing methods of thought. A student's preferred mode of thinking was measured on a scale ranging from a preference for analytical thought to a preference for visual thought as they completed derivative and antiderivative tasks presented both algebraically and graphically. This relates to previous studies by continuing to analyze the factors that have been found to mediate the students' performance and preference in regards to a variety of calculus tasks. Data was collected by Dr. Erhan Haciomeroglu at the University of Central Florida. Students' preferences were not affected by gender. Students were found to approach graphical and algebraic tasks similarly, without any significant change with regards to derivative or antiderivative nature of the tasks. Highly analytic and highly visual students revealed the same proportion of change in visuality as harmonic students when more difficult calculus tasks were encountered. Thus, a strong preference for visual thinking when completing algebraic tasks was not the determining factor of their preferred method of thinking when approaching graphical tasks.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: FSU_migr_uhm-0052
Format: Thesis

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