Resource Type
Collection
Serial/Series Title
Degree Department
Music
55
Department of History
19
Department of Biological Sciences
18
Department of Psychology
13
Department of Behavior Analysis
12
Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering
12
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
11
College of Music
10
Department of Geography
10
Department of Radio, Television and Film
10
31 More
Degree Discipline
Degree Level
Year
Month
Down, Set, Like? A Study of Social Networking and Sports Fandom
Sports in the 21st century have become popular across multiple industries, and a major boon to a television industry dealing with increasing audience fragmentation. So an understanding of fans' behavior is important to all parties. This study, an online survey consisting of 242 responses, examined fandom and its relationship with time spent using social networking sites and found no statistical correlation. Six uses and gratification factors obtained: human connection, network content, distraction/amusement, social integration, social surveillance, and active entertainment. The low comparative saliency of the social integration factor suggests that perhaps fandom is distinct from other ways of identifying with similarly-minded individuals (e.g. political and/or religious affiliation), or that perhaps fandom as a factor is less than sufficient to explain how/why sports fans use social networking sites.
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Otteson, Gabe
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Dramatizing Lynching and Labor Protest: Case Studies Examining How Theatre Reflected Minority Unrest in the 1920S and 30S
Theatre is widely unrecognized for the compelling influence it has held in society throughout history. In this thesis, I specifically examine the implications surrounding the social protest theatre of black and Jewish American minority communities in the first half of the twentieth century. I discuss how their historical circumstance, culture, and idiosyncratic natures caused them to choose agitated propaganda theatre as an avenue for protest. I delve into the similarities in circumstance, but their theatre case studies separate the two communities in the end. I present case studies of each community, beginning with anti-lynching plays of the 1920s that were written by black American playwrights both in response to white supremacist propaganda theatre and to assert a dignified representation of the black community. However, their plays and protest movement never developed a larger popular following. My next minority theatre case study is an examination of 1930s Jewish labor drama created in protest of popular anti-Semitic theatre and poor labor conditions. The Jewish community differs from the black community in their case because the racist propaganda was produced by a man who was Jewish. Another difference is that their protest theatre was on the commercial stage by this point because of …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Goldmann, Kerry L.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Drawing Boundaries and Revealing Language Attitudes: Mapping Perceptions of Dialects in Korea
Perceptual dialectology studies have shown that people have strong opinions about the number and placement of dialect regions. There has been relatively little research conducted in this area on Korean, however, with early studies using only short language attitude surveys. To address this gap in research, in the present study, I use the 'draw-?a-?map' task to examine perceptions of language variation in Korea. I ask respondents to draw a line around places in Korea where people speak differently and provide names, examples, and comments about the language spoken in those areas. With the resulting data, I use ArcGIS 10.0 software to quantitatively identify, aggregate, and map the most salient dialect areas and categories for subjects' perceptions. I also perform a content analysis of the qualitative data provided by respondents using 'keywords.' During this process, I categorize comments and labels given by respondents to find emerging themes. Finally, I stratify perceptions of respondents by demographic factors, e.g., age, sex, and urbanicity, that have often been found to be important in language variation and change. An analysis of these data suggests that Koreans' perceptions of dialect regions are not necessarily limited by administrative boundaries. In fact, the data reveal not only perceptions …
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Jeon, Lisa
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Dynamic Precipitation of Second Phase Under Deformed Condition in Mg-nd Based Alloy
Magnesium alloys are the lightweight structural materials with high strength to weigh ratio that permits their application in fuel economy sensitive automobile industries. Among the several flavors of of Mg-alloys, precipitation hardenable Mg-rare earth (RE) based alloys have shown good potential due to their favorable creep resistance within a wide window of operating temperatures ranging from 150°C to 300°C. A key aspect of Mg-RE alloys is the presence of precipitate phases that leads to strengthening of such alloys. Several notable works, in literature, have been done to examine the formation of such precipitate phases. However, there are very few studies that evaluated the effect stress induced deformation on the precipitation in Mg-RE alloys. Therefore, the objective of this work is to examine influence of deformation on the precipitation of Mg-Nd based alloys. To address this problem, precipitation in two Mg-Nd based alloys, subjected to two different deformation conditions, and was examined via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atom probe tomography (APT). In first deformation condition, Md-2.6wt%Nd alloy was subjected to creep deformation (90MPa / 177ºC) to failure. Effect of stress-induced deformation was examined by comparing and contrasting with precipitation in non-creep tested specimens subjected to isothermal annealing (at 177ºC). In …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Dendge, Nilesh Bajirao
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Early and Current Family Environment Among Inpatient Trauma Survivors: Associations with Multi-type Abuse and Sexual Orientation
The present study is an exploratory analysis of associations among sexual orientation, childhood abuse, and characteristics of both early and current family environment in a sample of 80 inpatient trauma survivors. Participants were administered a background information questionnaire, Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule, the Family Environment Scale and other instruments not analyzed in the current study. Multi-type abuse was significantly associated with low expressiveness and independence and high control in the early family, but no associations emerged with current family characteristics. Results suggest that the intergenerational transmission of family organization and moral-religious orientation occurred in the entire sample, and the transmission of family conflict patterns occurred only in the L/G/B group. Overall, participants perceived improvements in their current family environments compared to their early family environments. Findings yield support for the sexual minority stress model and mixed support for the intergenerational transmission of family characteristics.
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Williams, Jennifer S.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Educating American Audiences: Claire Reis and the Development of Modern Music Institutions, 1912-1930
The creation of institutions devoted to promoting and supporting modern music in the United States during the 1920s made it possible for American composers to develop an identity distinct from that of European modernists. These institutions were thus a critical part of the process of modernization that began in the United States during the early decades of the twentieth century. There is substantial scholarship on these musical institutions of modern music, such as the International Composers’ Guild and the League of Composers; but little to no work has been done on the progressive musical institutions of the 1910s, such as the Music League of the People’s Music Institute of New York, which was founded by Claire Reis. This thesis addresses the questions of how and why American musical modernism came to be as it was in the 1920s through an examination of the various stages of Reis’s career. The first chapter is an extensive study of primary source material gathered from the League of Composers/ISCM Records collection at the New York Public Library, which relates to Reis’s work with the PML in the 1910s. The second chapter uses the conclusions of the first chapter to shine new light on an …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Freeman, Cole
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Dispersed Particles and Branching on the Performance of a Medium Temperature Thermal Energy Storage System
The main objective of my thesis is to develop a numerical model for small-scale thermal energy storage system and to see the effect of dispersing nano-particles and using fractal-like branching heat exchanger in phase change material for our proposed thermal energy storage system. The associated research problems investigated for phase change material (PCM) are the low thermal conductivity and low rate of heat transfer from heat transfer fluid to PCM in thermal energy storage system. In this study an intensive study is carried out to find the best material for thermal storage and later on as a high conductive nano-particle graphite is used to enhance the effective thermal conductivity of the mixed materials. As a thermal storage material molten solar Salt (60% NaNO3+40%KNO3) has been selected, after that detailed numerical modeling of the proposed design has been done using MATLAB algorithm and following the fixed grid enthalpy method. The model is based on the numerical computation of 1-D finite difference method using explicit scheme. The second part of the study is based on enhancing the heat transfer performance by introducing the concept of fractal network or branching heat exchanger. Results from the numerical computation have been utilized for the comparison …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Hasib, A. M. M. Golam
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Menthol on Nicotine Metabolism: a Cross Species Evaluation
The effect of menthol on nicotine metabolism was examined in liver S9 fractions of four different species and in the in vivo mouse model. The purpose of this study was to investigate three parameters: (1) biotransformation of nicotine to cotinine in various species (human, mouse, rat and trout) using in vitro methods; (2) to determine if the addition of menthol with nicotine altered biotransformation of nicotine to cotinine; (3) and to assess similar parameters in an in vivo mouse model. The major findings of this study include: (1) mice appear to metabolize nicotine, over time, in a manner similar to humans; (2) menthol decreased cotinine production, over time, after a single dose in mice; and (3) menthol increased cotinine production, over time, after repeated doses, in mice.
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Pace, Wendy Lee
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Retting on Surface Chemistry and Mechanical Performance Interactions in Natural Fibers for High Performance Polymer Composites
Sustainability through replacement of non-renewable fibers with renewable fibers is an ecological need. Impact of transportation costs from South-east Asia on the life cycle analysis of the composite is detrimental. Kenaf is an easily grown crop in America. Farm based processing involves placing the harvested crop in rivers and ponds, where retting of the fibers from the plant (separation into fibers) can take 2 weeks or more. The objective of this thesis is to analyze industrially viable processes for generating fibers and examine their synergistic impact on mechanical performance, surface topography and chemistry for functional composites. Comparison has been made with commercial and conventional retting process, including alkali retting, enzymatic retting, retting in river and pond water (retting occurs by natural microbial population) with controlled microbial retting. The resulting kenaf fibers were characterized by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), polarized optical microscopy (POM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) optical fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and carbohydrate analysis. DMA results showed that pectinase and microbe treated fibers have superior viscoelastic properties compared to alkali retting. XPS, Raman, FT-IR and biochemical analysis indicated that the controlled microbial and pectinase retting was …
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Ramesh, Dinesh
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Season Performance on Male and Female Track and Field Athletes’ Self-identity
Although the “self” has generally been conceptualized as relatively stable in sport-specific research, events such as deselection, injury, and career termination have been found to negatively affect athletes’ levels of identification with the athlete role. Additionally, there has been limited research regarding competitive failure and its ability to negatively affect athletes’ levels of identification with the athlete role. The purpose of the present investigation was to provide additional evidence regarding the influence poor competitive seasons have on the malleability of athletes’ self-identity. Athletes were followed throughout the course of their season to determine whether athletes who encountered a poor competitive season reported lowered levels of athletic identity. Specifically, male and female NCAA Division I track and field athletes completed pre-indoor, post-indoor, and post-outdoor assessments of athletic identity. Contrary to previous research, the current study’s results indicated no identifiable relationship between male and female athletes’ season performance satisfaction and their level of post-indoor and post-outdoor athletic identity. Thus, the greatest predictor of athletes’ post-season level of athletic identity was their pre-season level of athletic identity, regardless of season performance. Given these results, future research should assess self-esteem as well as other potential coping strategies athletes might use in order to gain …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Bradstreet, Tyler C.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of a Human Trafficking Prevention Workshop Package on Participant Written and Simulation Responses
This study evaluated the effects of a community workshop designed to teach community members about human trafficking prevention. Participants were trained to identify the critical and non-critical features of human trafficking and safe ways to respond to identified trafficking situations. A pre-post treatment design was used to assess the effects of a community workshop across written and verbal target behaviors. This included written responses as well as simulation assessments across five different trafficking scenarios. Results indicate that all participants engaged in more correct responding within the written assessment and asked specific relevant questions with greater confidence within the simulation assessment following training. However, social media and empathy responses following the workshop did not differ from baseline. This study is one of the first empirical studies aimed at formally evaluating the effects of human trafficking prevention workshops. Results are discussed in the context of instructional design, measurement of outcomes, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Sayles, Tiffany P.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Airway Pressure, Hypercapnia, and Hypoxia on Pulmonary Vagal Afferents in the Alligator (Alligator Misssissippiensis)
The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) is an aquatic diving reptile with a periodic breathing pattern. Previous work has identified pulmonary stretch receptors (PSR), both rapidly- and slowly-adapting, and intrapulmonary chemoreceptors (IPCs) that modulate breathing patterns in alligators. The purpose of the present study was to identify the effects of prolonged lung inflation and deflation (simulated dives) on PSR and/or IPC firing characteristics in the alligator. The effects of airway pressure, hypercapnia, and hypoxia on dynamic and static responses of pulmonary stretch receptors (PSR) were studied in juvenile alligators (mean mass = 246 g) at 24°C. Receptor activity appeared to be a mixture of slowly-adapting PSRs (SARs) and rapidly-adapting PSRs (RARs) with varying thresholds and degrees of adaptation, but no CO2 sensitivity. Dives were simulated in order to character receptor activity before, during, and after prolonged periods of lung inflation and deflation. Some stretch receptors showed a change in dynamic response, exhibiting inhibition for several breaths after 1 min of lung inflation, but were unaffected by prolonged deflation. For SAR, the post-dive inhibition was inhibited by CO2 and hypoxia alone. These airway stretch receptors may be involved in recovery of breathing patterns and lung volume during pre- and post-diving behavior and …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Marschand, Rachel E.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Glyphosate Based Herbicides on Chick Embryo Development
Glyphosate based herbicides are among the most widely used herbicides in the world. The purpose of this study was to determine developmental toxicity of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the common herbicide Roundup, on developing chicken embryos. Few studies have examined toxic effects of glyphosate alone versus the full compound formulations of Roundup, which include adjuvants and surfactants. Adjutants and surfactants are added to aid in solubility and absorption of glyphosate. In this study chicken embryos were exposed at the air cell on embryonic day 6 to 19.8 or 9.9 mg / Kg egg mass of glyphosate in Roundup or glyphosate only. Chickens treated with 19.8 and 9.9 mg / Kg glyphosate in Roundup showed significant reduction in survivability compared to glyphosate alone treatments and controls. On embryonic day 18, embryos were sacrificed for evaluation of developmental toxicity using wet embryo mass, dry embryo mass, and yolk mass as indicators. Morphology measurements were taken on liver mass, heart mass, tibiotarsus length and beak length. Embryos treated with 19.8 mg / Kg glyphosate and 9.9 mg / Kg glyphosate in Roundup showed significant reductions in wet and dry embryo mass and yolk mass. Tibiotarsus length in 9.9 mg / Kg glyphosate …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Winnick, Blake Edward
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Homework Sessions on Undergraduate Students' Homework Performance
Experimenters evaluated the effects of a homework session on undergraduate students' homework performance through an adapted alternating treatments design in two introduction to behavior analysis courses. Several participants attended homework sessions; however, homework submission and homework mastery did not vary as a function of homework session attendance or availability. Homework submission remained high throughout the experiment regardless of attendance at or availability of a homework session. Many participants responded that they were not interested in or did not need homework sessions. Participants who attended homework sessions rated them as neutral or helpful overall, with longer time and different time as the most common suggestions for improvement.
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Hamilton, Elissa R.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Processing Techniques on Mechanical Properties of Selected Polymers
The mechanical properties of a polymer represent the critical characteristics to be considered when determining the applications for it. The same polymer processed with different methods can exhibit different mechanical properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference in mechanical properties of the selected polymers caused by different processing techniques and conditions. Three polymers were studied, including low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and NEXPRENE® 1287A. Samples were processed with injection molding and compression molding under different processing condition. Tensile and DMA tests were performed on these samples. The acquired data of strain at break from the tensile tests and storage modulus from the DMA were utilized to calculate brittleness. Calculated brittleness values were used to perform analysis of variance (ANOVA) to investigate the statistical significance of the processing technique and condition. It was found that different processing techniques affect the brittleness significantly. The processing technique is the major factor affecting brittleness of PP and NEXPRENE, and the processing temperature is the major factor affecting brittleness of LDPE.
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Dong, Yao
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Effects of Training History on Retention and Reacquisition of Stimulus Control
The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of training history on retention and re-acquisition of stimulus control of previously learned behaviors. In Phase I, two pairs of behaviors were alternately trained. Circle and touch behaviors were trained concurrently until two consecutive errorless sessions were run. Spin and down behaviors were trained together in the same manner. Probe sessions, in which all four cues were presented, were conducted each time a pair of behaviors reached this criterion. Training of one pair did not occur until the other pair had reached criterion and probe sessions were run. Despite achieving the designated criterion during training, stimulus control changed during probes. During probe sessions, errors increased under the cues that were not currently being trained. In most cases, the type of errors emitted for each cue was the same as the behavior that was trained concurrently. The number of training sessions required to reach criterion accuracy was high during the first set of sessions and decreased over the course of the experiment. In Phase II, spin and circle behaviors were trained concurrently. The number of sessions required to reach stimulus control criteria remained low, and the number of errors emitted under …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Tucker, Kathryn Lynn
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Embracing Equality: Texas Baptists, Social Christianity, and Civil Rights in the Twentieth Century
Texas Baptists in the twentieth century struggled to overcome prejudice and embrace racial equality. While historians have generally agreed that Baptist leadership in Texas was more progressive in regard to race relations than that of other southern states, Texas Baptists acquiesced to calls for racial justice with great difficulty. This study seeks to analyze the relationship between Texas Baptists' understanding of social Christianity and their views of racial equality. Furthermore, this study seeks to examine the extent to which white Texas Baptists actually changed their racial views and incorporated African Americans into their church services following the civil rights movement. An analysis of the racial transformation of one of Texas' most famous Baptists, W. A. Criswell, and the history of the Christian Life Commission, which is the ethical arm of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, provides great insight in to the racial progress made by Texas Baptists in the twentieth century. As Texas Baptists enter the twenty-first century and encounter a large and growing Hispanic population, the findings of this study will render aide to those who wish to embark on a new future by learning from the mistakes of their past.
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Davis, Joseph J.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Emerging Ed-tech and Accessibility
Recent developments in the field of education have led to a proliferation of educational technologies (or “ed-tech”), yet access to educational content for students with special needs remains a challenge. This research study aims to assess the current state of accessibility in emerging ed-tech and to identify barriers in enabling educational content to be born accessible. Detailed discussions with various ed-tech platforms revealed less of a need for technical tools, but a more prevailing need for knowledge and education around accessibility – what it means and how best to incorporate accessibility into their platforms. The more experienced teams advocate incorporating accessibility into product development right from the design phase, while the younger teams expressed challenges in navigating accessibility laws and the dire need for easy-to-follow guidelines and best practices. A detailed review of educators' content creation processes reveals multiple dependencies in the ecosystem of ed-tech where partnerships and compatibilities are crucial in enabling accessibility throughout the process. Likewise, an urgent need exists for increasing awareness of accessibility among instructors authoring educational content using emerging ed-tech.
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Vora, Disha
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Energy Harvesting Wireless Piezoelectric Resonant Force Sensor
The piezoelectric energy harvester has become a new powering option for some low-power electronic devices such as MEMS (Micro Electrical Mechanical System) sensors. Piezoelectric materials can collect the ambient vibrations energy and convert it to electrical energy. This thesis is intended to demonstrate the behavior of a piezoelectric energy harvester system at elevated temperature from room temperature up to 82°C, and compares the system’s performance using different piezoelectric materials. The systems are structured with a Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PMN-PT) single crystal patch bonded to an aluminum cantilever beam, Lead Indium Niobate-Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PIN-PMN-PT) single crystal patch bonded to an aluminum cantilever beam and a bimorph cantilever beam which is made of Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT). The results of this experimental study show the effects of the temperature on the operation frequency and output power of the piezoelectric energy harvesting system. The harvested electrical energy has been stored in storage circuits including a battery. Then, the stored energy has been used to power up the other part of the system, a wireless resonator force sensor, which uses frequency conversion techniques to convert the sensor’s ultrasonic signal to a microwave signal in order to transmit the signal wirelessly.
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Ahmadi, Mehdi
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Environmental Philosophy and the Ethics of Terraforming Mars: Adding the Voices of Environmental Justice and Ecofeminism to the Ongoing Debate
Questions concerning the ethics of terraforming Mars have received some attention from both philosophers and scientists during recent decades. A variety of theoretical approaches have been supplied by a number of authors, however research pursuant to this thesis has indicated at least two major blindspots in the published literature on the topic. First, a broad category of human considerations involving risks, dangers, and social, political, and economic inequalities that would likely be associated with efforts to terraform Mars have been woefully overlooked in the published literature to date. I attempt to rectify that oversight by employing the interpretive lens of environmental justice to address questions of environmental colonialism, equality in terms of political participation and inclusion in decision making structures, risks associated with technological progressivism, and responses to anthropogenic climate change. Only by including the historically marginalized and politically disenfranchised "voices," of both humans and nonhumans, can any future plan to terraform Mars be deemed ethical, moral or just according to the framework provided by environmental justice. Furthermore, broader political inclusion of this sort conforms to what ecofeminist author Val Plumwood calls the "intentional recognition stance" and provides an avenue through which globally societies can include nonanthropocentric considerations in decision …
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
French, Robert Heath
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Estimation of Aircraft Emissions for the Corpus Christi International Airport, Corpus Christi, Texas
Commercial aviation is a vital part of the United States economy. It generates over $1 trillion annually, which is more than 5% of the U.S. GDP, and produces approximately 10 million jobs. Every year there is an increase in commercial air traffic. This is attributed to expanding trade between states and other countries, which requires larger amounts of cargo aircraft in operation, and also catering to the growing number of middle and upper class passengers who travel for business and pleasure purposes. A rise in commercial aviation leads to the use of more aviation fuel on a monthly and annual basis. This in turn leads to escalated levels of combustion by-products from jet and turbofan engines into the atmosphere. The negative effects of these by-products range from producing poor air quality and consequent health hazards to contributing to global warming. This study is aimed at assessing the impacts of aircraft emissions on the local air quality in Corpus Christi using the Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System. Flight data for the study was obtained from the Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration. Analyses of the emissions were compared on monthly, annual, engine type and airline provider bases. Climatic, economic …
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Thomas, Gregson Johann
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Ethnogenesis and Captivity: Structuring Transatlantic Difference in the Early Republic, 1776-1823
This study seeks to understand the development of early American ideas of race, religion, and gender as reflected in Indian and Barbary captivity narratives (tales of individuals taken captive by privateers in North Africa) and in plays that take American captives as their subject. Writers of both Indian and Barbary captivity narratives used racial and religious language – references to Indians and North Africans as demonic, physically monstrous, and animal – simultaneously to delineate Native American and North African otherness. The narrative writers reserved particular scorn for the figure of the Renegade – the willful cultural convert who chose to live among the Native Americans or adopt Islam and live among his North African captors. The narratives, too, reflect Early American gendered norms by defining the role of men as heads of household and women’s protectors, and by defining women by their status as dutiful wives and mothers. Furthermore, the narratives carefully treat the figure of the female captive with particular care – resisting implications of captive rape, even while describing graphic scenes of physical torture, and denying the possibility of willful transcultural sexual relationships.
Date:
August 2013
Creator:
Siddiqi, M. Omar
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Evaluating Appropriateness of Emg and Flex Sensors for Classifying Hand Gestures
Hand and arm gestures are a great way of communication when you don't want to be heard, quieter and often more reliable than whispering into a radio mike. In recent years hand gesture identification became a major active area of research due its use in various applications. The objective of my work is to develop an integrated sensor system, which will enable tactical squads and SWAT teams to communicate when there is absence of a Line of Sight or in the presence of any obstacles. The gesture set involved in this work is the standardized hand signals for close range engagement operations used by military and SWAT teams. The gesture sets involved in this work are broadly divided into finger movements and arm movements. The core components of the integrated sensor system are: Surface EMG sensors, Flex sensors and accelerometers. Surface EMG is the electrical activity produced by muscle contractions and measured by sensors directly attached to the skin. Bend Sensors use a piezo resistive material to detect the bend. The sensor output is determined by both the angle between the ends of the sensor as well as the flex radius. Accelerometers sense the dynamic acceleration and inclination in 3 …
Date:
May 2013
Creator:
Akumalla, Sarath Chandra
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Evaluating the Content and Tone of Mental Health News Coverage in Market 40: a Content Analysis of Selected Internet Stories From Las Vegas Broadcasting News Outlets
The purpose of this research study is to analyze mental health related content on the three network affiliated stations in Las Vegas, Nevada. Online web stories from broadcast stations are analyzed in terms of the content and tone. These areas of analysis relate directly to the mass communication theories agenda setting and framing. Historically, mental health news reports have included content and tone that together can potentially create and further stigmatizing sentiments about those with mental illnesses. This study utilizes a chi square test to determine if a relationship exists between the three network affiliated stations, four a priori coded mental health content categories, and a rating of the overall tone using a value dimensions scale. Supplemental analyses include frequency evaluations of what has been called “people-first” versus “non-people first” language. By analyzing mental health related content at these three stations in the Las Vegas market this study aims to add heuristic value to the study of mental health reporting in broadcast news. This study will allow for additional research to further test relationships between stations, content, and tone in the Las Vegas and other news markets. Ultimately, this study provides analysis and discussion of the important role of agenda …
Date:
December 2013
Creator:
Conroy, Ashley
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library