TITLE: Women's Labor in the Production and Promotion of the U.S Soccer Market: Explorations of a Gendered Sport Market and Labor Assemblage
AUTHOR: Chahardovali, Tarlan,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Newman, Joshua I., 1976-
MEMBER (university representative): Proffitt, Jennifer M.
MEMBER (committee member): Giardina, Michael D., 1976-
MEMBER (committee member): Goodman, Robin Truth, 1966-
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Sport Management
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (265 pages)
ABSTRACT: The abstract is unavailable at the request of the author.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sport Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 22, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Joshua I. Newman, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jennifer Proffitt, University Representative; Michael Giardina, Committee Member; Robin Truth Goodman, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Sports administration
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Chappell_fsu_0071E_16688.pdf
TITLE: Exploring the Hidden Order–Magnetic Phase Space in URu2Si2 Using Electronic Tuning via Chemical Substitution and Applied Pressure
AUTHOR: Chappell, Greta L.,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Baumbach, Ryan E.
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Chiorescu, Irinel
MEMBER (university representative): Latturner, Susan
MEMBER (committee member): Bonesteel, N. E.
MEMBER (committee member): Piekarewicz, Jorge
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Physics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (115 pages)
ABSTRACT: The heavy fermion intermetallic compound URu2Si2 continues to attract attention owing mainly to the occurrence of an unknown ordered state at T0 ~ 17.5 K that is referred to as “hidden order” (HO). HO remains enigmatic, despite more than three decades of research. Tuning studies of chemical substitution, applied magnetic fields, and applied pressure have revealed tantalizing trends in the structural, chemical, and electronic factors that support it. For example, applied pressure and isoelectronic chemical substitutions (Ru → Fe, Os) show unified behavior, where strengthened hybridization between the f and conduction electrons destabilizes HO and replaces it with a more conventional antiferromagnetic order. In contrast to this, chemical substitution that accomplishes hole or electron charge doping is substantially more complex. In order to address how the phases of URu2Si2 connect to its chemical analogs and investigate whether similar behavior might occur in other parts of the chemical/electronic phase space, electrical resistivity measurements under applied pressures are performed for the recently investigated chemical substitution series URu2Si2-xPx. The T-x phase space for URu2Si2-xPx consists of three regions with the following behaviors: (1) HO is rapidly suppressed towards zero temperature for x ≲ 0.03, (2) paramagnetism with a heavy-Fermi-liquid ground state for 0.03 ≲ x ≲ 0.26, and (3) strengthening antiferromagnetic order for 0.27 ≲ x ≲ 0.5. The results for measurements under applied pressures show that HO is enhanced and converted to antiferromagnetism in region (1), while regions (2) and (3) remain stable against applied pressure. The results for small x are similar to the parent compound under applied pressure, and the results for larger x are similar to other electron charge doping series (Ru → Rh, Ir), suggesting there is a connection between all electron charge doping series. Motivated by these results, the chemical substitution series U(Ru1-xPtx)2Si2 is investigated. The T-x phase diagram is constructed from magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, heat capacity, and high-field magnetoresistivity measurements for arc-melted polycrystalline samples. These measurements show that HO is rapidly suppressed towards zero temperature and abruptly collapses for x ≲ 0.02. This is followed by a paramagnetic region (0.03 ≲ x ≲ 0.05), where no ordering is seen down to low temperatures. Magnetic order, with an antiferromagnetic character, emerges and strengthens for 0.06 ≲ x ≲ 0.19. These results reinforce the connection between the Ru → Rh, Ir and Si → P phase diagrams and suggest that these distinct chemical substitutions provide semiunified tuning in URu2Si2 that is likely connected to charge doping. Altogether, these results further constrain the range of viable theories for what is HO. In addition to these studies, improvements are reported on the molten indium metal flux growth technique using an induction furnace for URu2Si2 single crystal synthesis, and they are employed to produce single-crystal specimens of UPt2Si2.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Heavy fermion, Hidden order, Magnetism, superconductivity, UPt2Si2, URu2Si2
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Ryan E. Baumbach, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Irinel Chiorescu, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Susan Latturner, University Representative; Nicholas Bonesteel, Committee Member; Jorge Piekarewicz, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Condensed matter
SUBJECT: Materials science
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Chauchois_fsu_0071E_16542.pdf
TITLE: Le Sang Mort-Vivant Des Romans De Louis-Ferdinand Celine
AUTHOR: Chauchois, Alexis L.,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Boutin, Aimée, 1970-
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Leushuis, Reinier, 1969-
MEMBER (university representative): McClive, Catherine
MEMBER (committee member): Munro, Martin
MEMBER (committee member): Hulstyn, Michaela
MEMBER (committee member): Glacet, Aymeric
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (250 pages)
ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines the impact of blood and bleeding on Celine's conception of existence as expressed in his literary works. As a combat soldier in WWI, the author was deeply marked by his witnessing of blood flowing on the battlefield. Subsequently, as a medical doctor in civil life, he continues to be obsessed by his patients’ blood, in particular the blood shed by the female sex which he observed during the miscarriages and abortions to which he attended. My dissertation argues that, re-exposed in his novels, instances of bloodshed and flowing blood, as well as a myriad of both life-giving and life-depleting elements connected in the same thematic web (butchery, food, digestion, disease, madness, putrefaction, etc.) constitute both the origin and the expression of a view on existence in which human beings are assimilated to living dead. Céline’s work multiplies these hybrid creatures into a variety of figures, which can be denoted as ‘vampiric’. The vampire embodies the ultimate bloodthirsty predator of his fellow creatures, always in search of blood to feed on. The vampire is thus an oxymoronic figure, the bearer of both death and life, like blood in Céline’s worldview and literary landscape. By following the flows of blood and their thematic ramifications in Céline’s work, it becomes clear that the author denies the classic conception of a cyclical existence in which life and death follow one another in favor of a state in which life and death inextricably accompany each other.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): April 27, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Existence, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Mort-vivant, Sang, Vampire, Viande
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Aimée Boutin, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Reinier Leushuis, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Cathy McClive, University Representative; Martin Munro, Committee Member; Michaela Hulstyn, Committee Member; Aymeric Glacet, Committee Member.
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Cone_fsu_0071E_16590.pdf
TITLE: Extracellular Vesicles in Disease Pathogenesis and as a Therapeutic Agent
AUTHOR: Cone, Allaura Sherman,
MEMBER (university representative): Tang, Hengli
MEMBER (committee member): Zhu, Fanxiu
MEMBER (committee member): Gunjan, Akash
MEMBER (committee member): Arbeitman, Michelle N. (Michelle Nina)
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Medicine
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Biomedical Sciences
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (135 pages)
ABSTRACT: Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous population of membrane-bound nanoparticles that are essential mediators of cell-to-cell communication. They package diverse cargo that includes proteins, lipids, RNA, and DNA. EVs are secreted by all cell types and are found in all bodily fluids tested. Due to their critical role in intracellular communication, they are often altered in various disease states, such as cancer, viral infection, or neurodegenerative diseases. EVs derived from pathogenic cells during different disease conditions can adjust the microenvironment to make healthy cells more permissive. However, EVs secreted from healthy cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), have been found to package cargo that can be used to heal diseased cells. Chapter one of this thesis looks at packaging of the pathogenic version of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its metabolites into EVs. We found that APP depends on the Alix-Syntenin-1 pathway to be secreted from cells. Additionally, we found that APP and its metabolite CTFβ can cause cytotoxicity in primary cultured neurons and induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation in induced pluripotent stem cells when transmitted through EVs. However, the cytotoxicity conferred by these EVs are decreased from cells expressing a knockdown on Alix and Syntenin-1 since they secrete lower amounts of APP and CTFβ. In chapter two, we continue to look at Alzheimer’s disease but using EVs as a therapeutic strategy. We purified EVs from human bone marrow-derived (hBM) MSCs grown in 3D culture and administered them intranasally (IN) in a preclinical mouse model. We found that IN administration of these EVs can cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). We then treated non-transgenic (NT) or five familial AD mutation (5XFAD) mice for four months with EVs. After treatment, we performed behavioral tests and found that treatment with EVs alleviated cognitive decline in the 5XFAD mice. We then performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) and saw a decrease in plaque production in the hippocampus of EV treated 5XFAD mice compared to the saline treated 5XFAD mice. Finally, since MSC-derived EVs have previously been shown to be immunomodulatory, we looked at glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) localization in the mice. We found altered colocalization of GFAP with the amyloid plaques in the EV-treated mice. These data suggest that treatment with MSC-derived EVs can slow down AD progression. In chapter three, we move to the effect of Rab proteins on the packaging of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) oncoprotein latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1). Previous research found that LMP1 expression significantly increased the levels of Rab31 secreted into EVs. We then used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to knockout Rab31 in cells and observed its effect on LMP1 packaging. Interestingly, Rab31 knockout perturbs the packaging of LMP1 into EVs, but did not alter LMP1’s primary secretion into the exosomal population. We next found that a loss of Rab31 altered LMP1 localization in cells. To determine the cause, we then examined LMP1 interacting protein, CD63. We found a significant decrease of colocalization between CD63 and LMP1 in the Rab31 CRISPR cells. We also found a reduction of CD63 expression in the tetraspanin enriched microdomains (TEMs) of cells that lost Rab31. Additionally, we found that inhibition of lysosomal degradation rescued LMP1 packaging. This study revealed how LMP1 modulates EV pathways to enhance pathogenesis. Overall, these data aim to determine the roles that EVs play in disease progression. Throughout various diseases, EV cargo can be modified to enhance disease progression. However, EVs from healthy cells, such as MSCs, can reverse some of the damage caused during disease progression. This study aims to determine how EV cargo is modified and the different effects that it can have on other cells. Taken together, these data use a variety of techniques and models to study the impacts EVs have in pathogenesis as well as their potential use as therapeutics.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Biomedical Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 29, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Alzheimer's disease, Epstein-Barr Virus, Exosomes, Extracellular Vesicles, LMP1
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): David G. Meckes, Jr., Professor Directing Dissertation; Hengli Tang, University Representative; Fanxiu Zhu, Committee Member; Akash Gunjan, Committee Member; Michelle Arbeitman, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Biology
SUBJECT: Medicine
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Cooper_fsu_0071N_16740.pdf
TITLE: Failure Analysis of High Temperature Superconducting Magnets
AUTHOR: Cooper, Jonathan,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Larbalestier, D. (David)
MEMBER (committee member): Kalu, Peter N.
MEMBER (committee member): Kametani, Fumitake
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Mechanical Engineering
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (43 pages)
ABSTRACT: The need for higher field magnets for industry and research has led magnet designers to design and build a new generation of magnets featuring promising high temperature superconductors. However, with these higher fields comes with higher stress on the magnet. Too much stress on the superconducting filaments will cause irreversible plastic deformation within the magnet resulting in performance drops. It is important to understand the origin of these defects within the magnets to build more stronger and more reliable high field magnets. In this postmortem of a high temperature superconducting magnets metallographic methods are explored to dissect the magnet without introducing further damage. Proceeding the dissection, begins optical microscopy and individual testing of the superconducting wires. The images generated form the microscopy is used to find visual evidence of plastic deformation in the magnet that is used to justify a reasonable explanation as to why the high temperature superconducting magnet suffered the decline in performance. The findings are documented and used to determine a way to effectively manage the stress to prevent future failures of the same kind.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 12, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): David C. Larbalestier, Professor Directing Thesis; Peter Kalu, Committee Member; Fumitake Kametani, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Mechanical engineering
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Daly_fsu_0071E_16680.pdf
TITLE: Sources and Redaction in the Account of the Emperor Julian in Book 3 of Theodoret's Historia Ecclesiastica
AUTHOR: Daly, Sean,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Levenson, David B.
MEMBER (university representative): Slaveva-Griffin, Svetla
MEMBER (committee member): Kelley, Nicole, 1975-
MEMBER (committee member): Goff, Matthew J.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Religion
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (445 pages)
ABSTRACT: Given the interest in both late antique historiography and the emperor Julian, there is a surprising lack of scholarship concerning the image of Julian presented by Theodoret, the fifth-century bishop of Cyrus, whose Historia ecclesiastica is one of our most important sources of late antique history. This dissertation provides a granular analysis of nineteen episodes dealing with the treatment of the reign of the Emperor Julian in Book 3 of Theodoret’s Historia ecclesiastica. These passages, which account for two-thirds of Book 3, discuss the emperor and his policies in the context of three major themes: Julian’s war on Christianity (Chapter 4), Julian’s interactions with demons and oracles (Chapter 5), and the divine retribution enacted upon Julian and his followers (Chapter 6). Chapter 4, “War on Christianity,” includes nine episodes: the desecration of the bones of John the Baptist (3.7.1), the persecution of Mark of Arethusa (3.7.6–10), the confession of Theodorus (3.11.1–3), the martyrdom of Juventinus and Maximinus (3.15.1–9), the confession of Valentinian (3.16.1–5), the gold distribution ceremony (3.17.1–8), the martyrdom of the Dux Artemius (3.18.1–2), the defiance of Publia (3.19.1–6), and the speech of the Beroean magistrate (3.22.1–5). Chapter 5, “Demons and Oracles,” includes five episodes: Julian’s initiation in Greece (3.3.1–7), the transfer of Babylas and destruction of the temple of Apollo (3.10.1–3.11.5), the prophecies concerning Julian’s Persian expedition (3.21.1–6), the visions of the pedagogue and monk (21.23–24), and the discovery of the Antiochene skulls and the Carrhaean haruspicy (3.26–27). Chapter 6, “Divine Retribution,” includes four episodes: the punishment of the persecutors of Cyril of Heliopolis (3.7.2–4), the desecrations committed by the Prefect Julian, Felix, and Elpidius (3.12.1–13.4), the attempt to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem (3.20.1–8), and the death of Julian in Persia (3.25.1–7). The analysis of each episode begins with a detailed discussion of Theodoret’s sources for that episode followed by a literary and ideological analysis of how Theodoret uses each of those source in his own account. For the episodes for which Theodoret is the only extant source, some attention is given to his possible sources, but the analysis is focused primarily on how the episode illustrates Theodoret’s literary techniques, theological interests, and historiographical methods. Earlier work on Theodoret’s sources identified a number of possible sources for various episodes, but did not demonstrate precisely where and how Theodoret employed them. This study, based on a detailed analysis that compares Theodoret’s text to all relevant parallels, demonstrates the complex way he uses his source material, often weaving together two or more sources into a single narrative. The results of the source-critical analyses in many cases agree with earlier studies in recognizing Theodoret’s use of Rufinus, the so-called anonymous “Arian Historian,” Gregory of Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, and Antiochene oral tradition. Some earlier studies have also noted a connection between Theodoret and the Historia ecclesiastica of Sozomen, although scholars differ about how to best explain that connection. The analysis undertaken in this study clearly demonstrates a direct literary connection between Theodoret and Sozomen based on evidence that appears in Book 3, although this analysis has found no decisive evidence from which to establish the priority of one author over the other. Nevertheless, this study provides a great deal of data that could help to answer this question if considered together with data from similar analyses of the remaining books in Theodoret’s Historia ecclesiastica. The evidence gathered through this project also supports the common use of the Arian Historian as the simplest way to explain the clear connections between Philostorgius and Theodoret. The careful study of Book 3 also provides substantial evidence that the ninth-century chronicler Theophanes, in addition to using the Arian Historian and the Epitome of Theodorus Anagnostes, may have also used Theodoret's history directly. The redaction-critical analyses undertaken in this study demonstrate how Theodoret dramatizes his source material with specific language and themes that shape Book 3 into a cohesive narrative depicting Julian as a wicked tyrant whose lust for power drives him to embrace false gods and attempt a war on Christianity on their behalf. Nevertheless, Julian is thwarted by the efforts of bold and pious Christians and finally forced to admit the power of Christ as he is overcome by divine retribution.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 1, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Christianity, Church History, Classics, Ecclesiastical History, Historiography, Late Antiquity
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): David B. Levenson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Svetoslava E. Slaveva-Griffin, University Representative; Elecia N. Kelley, Committee Member; Matthew J. Goff, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Religion
SUBJECT: Civilization, Greco-Roman
SUBJECT: History
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Daneshparvar_fsu_0071E_16668.pdf
TITLE: Cryo-EM Structure and Homology Model of Drosophila Flight Muscle Thick Filaments
AUTHOR: Daneshparvar, Nadia,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Taylor, Kenneth A.
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Bonesteel, N. E.
MEMBER (university representative): Stagg, Scott
MEMBER (committee member): Cottle, Paul
MEMBER (committee member): Van Winkle, David H.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (116 pages)
ABSTRACT: Physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once famously said, “It is very easy to answer many fundamental biological questions; you just look at the thing!” [8]. Researchers have been trying for years to develop appropriate methods to be able to look at biological specimens and determine their structure in near-atomic resolution. Currently, the major methods available for structure determination of different macromolecular complexes are X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and electron microscopy. For decades X-ray crystallography has been the primary method for protein structure determination, especially to gain high-resolution information about a specimen. There are, however, challenges facing this method as many proteins and macro molecular complexes cannot be crystallized. Filaments are particularly problematic because they cannot be crystallized, and solving the structure by X-ray fiber diffraction is slow and tedious. Also, many proteins have different conformations as they form a crystal compared to their native state. Nuclear magnetic resonance provides novel information about the dynamics of the complex, but it is limited to smaller proteins in size for structure determination. Cryo-EM, on the other hand, introduces a unique opportunity to observe different proteins and macro- molecules in their native state. Muscle structure and function have been studied for decades, with electron microscopy being fundamental in its study by enabling direct observation of proteins without crystallizing them. Now, due to advancements in electron microscopy, we are able to solve the structure of myosin filaments at sub-nanometer resolution for the first time. High-resolution 3D structures of myosin filaments are very important but also very challenging to obtain. 3D structure of the myosin filaments is essential in understanding muscle function and disease. Cryo-EM has proven to be an excellent tool to study myosin molecules since they are 1.6 um in length, form filaments and do not crystallize easily. X-ray diffraction studies along with sequence analysis have shown myosin rods that make up the myosin filaments to be long α-helical coiled-coils, a few crystal structures of short myosin segments have also been published. Now, we are able to resolve the sub-nanometer structure of Drosophila thick filaments for the first time and see how the myosin rods pack together to form filaments.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Kenneth Taylor, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Nicholas Bonesteel, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Scott Stagg, University Representative; Paul Cottle, Committee Member; David Van Winkle, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Physics
SUBJECT: Biophysics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Daniels_fsu_0071E_16582.pdf
TITLE: Accelerated Credit Attainment: A Quantitative Analysis of Postsecondary Performance
AUTHOR: Daniels, Hollie,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Park, Toby J.
MEMBER (university representative): Reynolds, John R.
MEMBER (committee member): Herrington, Carolyn D.
MEMBER (committee member): Iatarola, Patrice
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (145 pages)
ABSTRACT: Demand for opportunities to earn accelerated credit has steadily grown over the past few decades. Increasingly, students are earning more credits via a variety of acceleration options, including but not limited to Advanced Placement (AP), dual enrollment (DE), and International Baccalaureate (IB). These acceleration options may be high-school-based or college-based and provide students with opportunities to earn college credit while in high school, which may better prepare students for college, increase postsecondary performance, and shorten time to degree (TTD) completion. Overwhelmingly, studies examining the outcomes of accelerated credit attainment have found benefits, however, these studies frequently focus on one acceleration option or one type of acceleration (i.e. high-school-based or college-based). Further, many studies have failed to examine joint participation in more than one acceleration option, a trend that has increased as students seek greater rigor during high school. However, disparities in access to accelerated coursework exist for some students, particularly students in rural areas. Using data on seven cohorts of students who matriculated at a Research 1 university in Florida, this study uses linear and logistic regression with high school fixed effects to examine the postsecondary performance of students with accelerated credit. Postsecondary performance is measured by first-year grade point average (GPA), first-year retention, graduation, cumulative GPA, and TTD completion, and the analytic sample includes 23,745 first-time-in-college students who graduated from public high schools in Florida. Results in the aggregate show that accelerated credit attainment is positively related to postsecondary performance. When disaggregating results by type of accelerated credit, results remain mostly positive, with few exceptions. Specifically, students earning accelerated credit from DE only had lower odds of retention compared to students with no accelerated credit, and students with accelerated credit from DE only, IB only, and DE and IB jointly had lower cumulative GPAs at the time of graduation. Other findings show small, positive gains to first-year and cumulative GPA, increased odds of retention and graduation, and shorter TTD completion.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 4, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): accelerated credit, Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, International Baccalaureate, postsecondary performance
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Toby Park-Gaghan, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Reynolds, University Representative; Carolyn Herrington, Committee Member; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Education, Higher
SUBJECT: Education (Secondary)
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Dias_fsu_0071E_16686.pdf
TITLE: Broadening vs. Deepening the Correlates of Support for European Integration
AUTHOR: Dias, Marielena,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Driscoll, Amanda M.
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Ehrlich, Sean D.
MEMBER (university representative): Padavic, Irene
MEMBER (committee member): Guedes Duque, Marina
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (155 pages)
ABSTRACT: For decades, scholars have investigated the correlates of support for European integration. Historically, integration has taken place through two specific processes--"broadening" (or enlargement) versus "deepening" (or EU institutional development). Yet, many scholars choose outcome variables that conflate the two. In this dissertation, I conceptually distinguish between both processes and then investigate the correlates of support for broadened versus deepened integration. I achieve three major contributions. The first involves a theoretical contribution. I emphasize the importance of decoupling support for integration into its two historical forms. I provide exploratory factor analysis results that demonstrate how support for either process lies on different dimensions. I use a lesser known original outcome variable from the literature to capture support for deepening, measured as support for increased policy delegation at the EU level. I create my own original outcome variable from a battery of Eurobarometer questions to measure support for broadening. Second, I demonstrate that when these processes are decoupled, we find interesting and unexpected results for our correlates. Finally, I identify several issues with how scholars conceptualize and operationalize support for integration. I provide some ideas for future research to tackle these problems. I emphasize why causation is so crucial to the development of this literature versus relying on correlation and propose a survey experiment that could be implemented to look at how perceived cultural and economic dissimilarity of a potential member state might affect support for broadening.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 18, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): broadening, deepening, European Union, integration, public opinion, support
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Amanda Driscoll, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Sean Ehrlich, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Irene Padavic, University Representative; Marina Duque, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Europe--Study and teaching
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Dill_fsu_0071E_16696.pdf
TITLE: An Analysis of the Application of Central Place Models in Mycenaean Archaeology
AUTHOR: Dill, Amy,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Pullen, Daniel J., 1954-
MEMBER (university representative): Niell, Paul B., 1976-
MEMBER (committee member): Luke, Trevor S.
MEMBER (committee member): Pfaff, Christopher A.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Classics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (345 pages)
ABSTRACT: This study investigates the use of central place models in Mycenaean archaeology, particularly as applied to the notion of “second order centers.” Traditional models are strongly hierarchical, and their evolutionary, taxonomic basis has limited understanding of Mycenaean centers and settlements and, by extension, of the polities and regions in which they are located. On the other hand, dynamic models allow scrutiny of local social and economic organization and can complement approaches like peer polity interaction. Diachronic analysis of households and collective action, including market behaviors, are key to the dynamic approach adopted in this study; these are compared spatially and chronologically to palatial trends and administrative practices. Application of this model to the Messenian second order centers Nichoria and Iklaina suggests that while the former retained considerable local independence, the latter suffered the effects of palatial centralization strategies. In the Argolid, competition among at least three palaces combined with areas of strong market potential contributed to the formation of a strikingly wealthy society of urban character, but correspondingly weak potential for the development of second order centers. Application of the model to Kalamianos also suggests the likelihood of an independent center with strong market potential. The results advocate a return to classic central place theory’s original emphases on services and markets, and an abandonment of top-down taxonomies of central places.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Mycenaean, Second order center
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Daniel J. Pullen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Paul Niell, University Representative; Trevor S. Luke, Committee Member; Christopher Pfaff, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Archaeology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Dirkes_fsu_0071N_16633.pdf
TITLE: Process Oriented Diagnostics of Tropical Cyclones in Reanalyses Using Moist Static Energy Budgets
AUTHOR: Dirkes, Caitlin,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Wing, Allison
MEMBER (committee member): Hart, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1972-
MEMBER (committee member): Chagnon, Jeffrey M.
MEMBER (committee member): Parfitt, Rhys
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (122 pages)
ABSTRACT: Global models have certain biases that are not yet fully understood. Since they are used to representtropical cyclones (TCs), we need to have a solid understanding of these biases in order to accurately study TCs. The motivation behind this project is to provide an observation-based reference for the processes involved in a good simulation of TCs. Using the column-integrated moist static energy variance budget, we analyze radiative and surface flux feedback terms across five different reanalysis datasets: MERRA-2, CFSR, JRA-55, ERA5, and ERA-Interim. Our goal is to diagnose the physical mechanisms that cause models to simulate a TC to better understand model biases. This work is a continuation of Wing et al. 2019, where process-oriented diagnostics that focus on how convection, moisture, clouds, and related processes are coupled were developed. These diagnostics allow us to evaluate models against observations, which tells us the specific processes to target for model improvement. We consider two different kinds of composites over TC snapshots. We construct a composite relative to the time of lifetime maximum intensity to compare storms at the same lifecycle stage and we construct an intensity bin composite to compare storms of similar intensity. Our results point to some fundamental differences among reanalysis datasets in how they represent surface flux and radiative feedbacks in TCs. These process-oriented diagnostics for TCs can be used by future model developers as a reference tool. Our results leave room for future work to validate climate model simulations against this observation-based reference, which will further help model development efforts.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 24, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Moist Static Energy, Process Oriented, Reanalyses, Tropical Cyclones
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Allison Wing, Professor Directing Thesis; Robert Hart, Committee Member; Jeffrey Chagnon, Committee Member; Rhys Parftt, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Meteorology
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Diwanji_fsu_0071E_16589.pdf
TITLE: United We Consume, Create, Manage: Exploring and Defining Consumer Generated Branding
AUTHOR: Diwanji, Vaibhav Shwetangbhai,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Cortese, Juliann
MEMBER (university representative): Dennen, Vanessa P., 1970-
MEMBER (committee member): McDowell, Stephen D., 1958-
MEMBER (committee member): Lee, Jaejin
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Communication and Information
CORPORATE NAME: School of Communication
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (331 pages)
ABSTRACT: What does the future look like for consumers and brands? The 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic added new uncertainties and brought new insights and geared consumers and brands to the real essentials of the ‘human touch’ in marketing communications. When the novel coronavirus made the world stand still, marketers and consumers finally had a chance to take notice of the sea of sameness in advertising and branding. The question remained: What is the role of the empowered, hyper-connected consumer in building the future of branding? Against this backdrop, this dissertation research aimed to bridge the gap between the rhetoric of consumer involvement in branding and the reality of its utility. Using a grounded theory approach and guided by the identity-based brand management approach and the national cultural dimensions, this dissertation research aimed to establish the definition of consumer generated branding from a cross-national and cross-cultural perspective. In doing so, the secondary research objective was to define and identify different forms of sponsored and non-sponsored consumer generated branding initiatives. To this end, this dissertation research utilized an innovative triangulation of a mixed-methods research design, including qualitative semi-structured interviews and observational methods comprising open card sorting, think-aloud protocol, and web-based real-time heatmap visualization. The participants included forty-four consumers and brand practitioners from the U.S. and India. Combining the insights from the qualitative interviews and the observational methods, the key academic contribution of this dissertation research was that it helped bridging the gap in the literature by proposing a contemporary and phenomenologically grounded understanding of consumer generated branding. The key managerial contribution of this dissertation was that it offered fresh avenues of co-creating consumer-centric, sustainable, and inclusive marketing communication, and also provided meaningful observations on the ever-evolving consumer-brand relationships, within the new and emerging media environments. This dissertation research was more than an invitation to think differently, it was a clarion call to action–to help create a new world of possibilities through brand value co-creation.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 24, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): branding, consumer behavior, consumer generated branding, consumer generated content, digital marketing, user generated content
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Juliann Cortese, Professor Directing Dissertation; Vanessa Dennen, University Representative; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member; Jaejin Lee, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Communication
SUBJECT: Marketing
SUBJECT: Business
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Dong_fsu_0071E_16113.pdf
TITLE: Study on Carbon Nanotube Synthesis Improvement, Bundle Alignment, and Manufacturing Process Modification of CNT/Carbon Composites
AUTHOR: Dong, Liyu,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Liang, Zhiyong (Richard)
MEMBER (university representative): Xiong, Peng
MEMBER (committee member): Hellstrom, Eric
MEMBER (committee member): Zhang, Mei
MEMBER (committee member): Kennemur, Justin Glenn
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
CORPORATE NAME: Program in Materials Science and Engineering
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (102 pages)
ABSTRACT: Aiming for high-temperature applications (1200-2000°C), traditional carbon/carbon (C/C) composites are composed of carbon fibers (CFs) and amorphous pyrolytic carbon (PyC) matrix. Although still heterogeneous in the nature, both the reinforcement and the matrix are considered homogeneous with very similar chemical composition, which minimizes the interfacial tension and stress. As CFs possess superior mechanical properties resulting from the highly crystalline and condensed graphitic structure, the brittleness remains an issue with the failure strain less than 1%. The toughness difference between CFs and PyC matrix explains the interfacial peeling as the typical and principal failure mode of CF-based C/C (CF/C) composites. In comparison, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) fall into the category of nanomaterials with tens of nanometers in diameter. Being much more flexible with ultra-high surface areas, the CNT-based C/C (CNT/C) composites are expected to dramatically improve the material toughness, also with excellent mechanical and electrical properties maintained at high temperature. Additionally, CNTs could offer the same theoretical strength with only one tenth of CFs’ weight, which significantly reduces the overall composite weight. In this work, we optimized the manufacturing process of CNT/C composites in three aspects: the precursor infiltration, the CNT quality, and the CNT bundle orientation. The continuous CNT synthesis and collection process with floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition (FCCVD) were explained in Chapter 3, where the catalyst solution composed of ferrocene (catalyst), thiophene (promoter), and acetone (carbon source) was carried through the 1250 ºC reaction zone by a flowing gas mixture of argon and hydrogen. Differing from the conventional water-assisted synthesis in which water vapor is one part of the carrier gas mixture, we included de-ionized water into the catalyst system, which achieved a more uniform and controlled distribution. Accordingly, a transition from double- to multi-walled CNTs were observed with elevated Raman IG/ID ratio and improved mechanical and electrical properties. In Chapter 4, we developed a novel methodology applying topological data analysis (TDA) to the scanning electron micrographs to detect and quantify the CNT bundle orientation. The CNT bundle extensions in certain directions were summarized algebraically and expressed as visible barcodes. The barcodes were then calculated and converted into the total spread function V(X,θ), from which the alignment fraction and the preferred direction could be determined. The results showed high consistency (R2=0.975) compared to the Herman’s orientation factors derived from the polarized Raman spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray scattering. Additionally, the TDA method presented great robustness with varying SEM acceleration voltages and magnifications, which might alter the scope. In Chapter 5, we applied the chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process and cyclic polymer infiltration pyrolysis (PIP) processes onto the commercialized CNT sheets (buckypapers, BPs), inspired by the conventional fabrication procedures of the CF/C composites. By controlling the parameters such as gas flow rate of carbon source and deposition time, pyrolytic carbon (PyC) as a carbon matrix precursor was deposited within the CNT network structure to achieve a near fully densified CNT/C composite structure. PIP process involves precursor impregnation, mechanical stretching (optional) and heat treatment steps, and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and phenolic resins were investigated. To further enhance the precursor infiltration, in Chapter 6, we proposed an efficient integrated fabrication route combining the continuous CNT synthesis, collection, and precursor infiltration into one single step. One of the prominent advantages lies in the significant reduction of the penetration pathway, which is critically beneficial for the densification process, especially in thick components.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Program in Materials Science and Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 9, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Zhiyong (Richard) Liang, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peng Xiong, University Representative; Eric Hellstrom, Committee Member; Mei Zhang, Committee Member; Justin Kennemur, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Engineering
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Dotterweich_fsu_0071N_16560.pdf
TITLE: Do You See What I See? : A Study of American Women Living with ADHD and Their Musical Experiences
AUTHOR: Dotterweich, Sarah,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): League, Panayotis
MEMBER (committee member): Von Glahn, Denise, 1950-
MEMBER (committee member): Gunderson, Frank D.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Music
CORPORATE NAME: College of Music
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (105 pages)
ABSTRACT: Although it is one of the most commonly diagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders in the United States, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is highly misconstrued and stigmatized. Like other mental health issues, stereotypes and stigmas are associated with ADHD as there is a lack of accurate research about this topic, causing the neurodivergent community to come under fire of harmful societal perceptions. Due to this lack of accessible knowledge and harmful perceptions ADHDers live with the effects of their symptoms as well as the effects of social exclusion; however, through musical communities, the neurodivergent community has found a safe space to express themselves without fear of rejection from others. In this thesis, I will examine how women with ADHD experience and interact with music. Through this project, I hope to shine light on the different experiences women have lived to show that ADHD affects those diagnosed differently and symptoms should not be generalized. Another aim of this project is to provide historical context to how stereotypes surrounding ADHD have been perpetuated throughout history and the consequences these perceptions have had on women with ADHD. Notions such as ADHD being only present in boys or children are a central reason why girls are not diagnosed until later in life, resulting in lowered self esteem, anxiety, and the development of comorbidities. The relationship between society, diagnosed women, and music form a triangular circulatory connection in which one affects another continuously. By analyzing societal perceptions, ADHD in women, and their musical interactions I hope to provide a deeper understanding of this triangular relationship between the three and to show how important it is to create an open and mindful space for neurodiverse women. In doing so, I will be using historical, sociological, and ethnographic strategies to create a holistic picture of these connections.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music.
NOTE (Date of Defense): April 21, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): ADHD, Ethnography, Gender Studies, Public Musicology
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Panayotis League, Professor Directing Thesis; Denise Von Glahn, Committee Member; Frank Gunderson, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Music
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Eastman_fsu_0071E_16604.pdf
TITLE: The Effects of Affiliative and Aggressive Disability Humor Stimuli and Individual Humor Styles on Attitudes and Anxiety Toward Persons with Disabilities
AUTHOR: Eastman, Paul,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Ebener, Deborah J.
MEMBER (university representative): Cox, Bradley E.
MEMBER (committee member): Dong, Shengli
MEMBER (committee member): Osborn, Debra S., 1968-
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (141 pages)
ABSTRACT: Negative attitudes and anxiety toward persons with disabilities (PWD) are prevalent in society, serving as barriers to their integration into workplace and educational settings and negatively affecting their quality of life. Given its social ubiquity and previously established influence on attitudes and anxiety, humor usage is an important factor to consider when addressing negative attitudes and anxiety toward PWD. The current study sought to determine the effects that different styles of disability humor stimuli (i.e. jokes) had on attitudes and anxiety toward PWD after controlling for participants’ individual humor styles and previous contact with PWD. Data were collected from 159 participants who were recruited using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. A one-way MANCOVA was used to analyze the data, with post-hoc univariate ANCOVA’s and multiple linear regressions run to clarify the results. The results indicated that participants’ individual humor styles and previous contact with PWD significantly affected their attitudes and anxiety toward PWD, whereas the disability humor stimuli had no significant effect. These results have implications for our understanding of Intergroup Contact Theory, highlight the limitations of previous research on the effects of humor and attitudes toward marginalized populations, and provide preliminary support for practical applications of humor usage in social settings to promote group cohesion by creating more inclusive spaces for PWD.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational and Psychological Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 15, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Deborah Ebener, Professor Directing Dissertation; Bradley Cox, University Representative; Shengli Dong, Committee Member; Debra Osborn, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Counseling psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Edwards_fsu_0071E_16351.pdf
TITLE: Tradition and Innovation in Josephus' Antiquities: The Adaptation of the Joseph and Esther Court-Tales in the Accounts of the Tobiads and Agrippa I
AUTHOR: Edwards, David,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Levenson, David B.
MEMBER (university representative): Luke, Trevor S.
MEMBER (committee member): Goff, Matthew J.
MEMBER (committee member): Kelley, Nicole, 1975-
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Religion
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (276 pages)
ABSTRACT: This study elucidates the interpretive strategies, compositional method, literary creativity, and ideological agendas of the ancient Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in adapting native textual traditions to form new and imaginative accounts for an elite Greco-Roman milieu in his twenty-book history, Antiquities of the Jews. I begin with literary analysis of the stories of Joseph and Esther in both their Hebrew and Greek scriptural versions, and then especially as retold by Josephus in his Antiquities. I am attentive to the unique features in each textual tradition as well as to the ways that even minor alterations impact the unfolding narratives. Those results anchor my analysis of Josephus’ adaptation of the Joseph and Esther stories in two accounts in the non-scriptural second half of his Antiquities, those concerning the Tobiads and Agrippa I. There, I show how the Joseph and Esther stories are used archetypally as models for fresh compositions, enlivening his narratives through conscious scriptural echoes while exhibiting considerable creativity and imagination in composing narratives wholly his own. Rather than merely imitating the Joseph and Esther stories, Josephus uses subversion, inversion, and irony to portray the Tobiads and Agrippa I in relation to their scriptural archetypes. I conclude that, in addition to exhibiting Josephus’ considerable literary creativity, his use of these techniques serves to further several programmatic agendas in Antiquities such as extolling the Jews’ illustrious ancestors and demonstrating a decline in the post-scriptural period of Jewish history. Josephus’ adaptation of the Joseph and Esther stories in the accounts of the Tobiads and Agrippa I also reflects a broader and significant preoccupation with court-tales. Within his diaspora context, this is driven by the utility of court-tales in proving that Jews are successful in the highest reaches of Gentile society and power—including Josephus himself, as a client of the Flavian imperial house in Rome.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 21, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Antiquities of the Jews, Esther, Flavius Josephus, Joseph, Second Temple Judaism
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): David B. Levenson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Trevor S. Luke, University Representative; Matthew Goff, Committee Member; Nicole Kelley, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Religion
SUBJECT: Judaism--Study and teaching
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Ehtemami_fsu_0071E_16624.pdf
TITLE: Optimal Segmentation Models for Architectural Artifact Detection
AUTHOR: Ehtemami, Anahid,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Bernadin, Shonda
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Pritchard, Emily
MEMBER (university representative): Meyer-Bäse, Anke
MEMBER (committee member): Foo, Simon Y.
MEMBER (committee member): Roberts, Rodney G.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (135 pages)
ABSTRACT: Computer vision tasks are used in a myriad of applications such as facial and emotion recognition, autonomous driving, visual search, and augmented and virtual reality including virtual tours. In virtual tours, an object detection model can be used to identify and detect labeled objects of interest for similar architectural features on building facades. However, there are very few labeled datasets and pre-trained object detection models for building façades due to the time-consumption and labor-intensity of designing such models. Furthermore, similar architectural styles of buildings have artifact features that may be similar in nature, color, shape, style which leads to artifact ambiguity and precise detail density. In this work, a deep learning object detection model is developed as a hybrid real-time video artifact detection solution with increased performance accuracy when compared to other detection models.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 6, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Computer vision, Machine learning, Object detection, Segmentation
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Shonda Bernadin, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Emily Pritchard, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Anke Meyer-Baese, University Representative; Simon Foo, Committee Member; Rodney Roberts, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Electrical engineering
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Figueroa_fsu_0071E_16654.pdf
TITLE: Towards Higher Theoretical Precision for Electroweak Boson Production with b-Jets at Hadron Colliders
AUTHOR: Figueroa, Diogenes,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Reina, Laura
MEMBER (university representative): Sura, Philip
MEMBER (committee member): Okui, Takemichi
MEMBER (committee member): Yohay, Rachel
MEMBER (committee member): Piekarewicz, Jorge
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Physics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (121 pages)
ABSTRACT: Processes involving the production of electroweak gauge bosons($W,Z,\gamma$) or a Higgs boson with $b$ jets play a very important role in stress testing the Standard Model and constitute major backgrounds in most searches of new physics beyond the Standard Model at present and future colliders. Given the unprecedented experimental precision that will be reached bythe Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiments during the upcoming Run 3 and the high-luminosity upgrade (HL-LHC), improving the accuracy of theoretical predictions to reach the few-percent level becomes crucial to the success of their physics program. Besides accounting for QCD quantum corrections, this implies including electroweak quantum effects, $b$-quark mass effects, and effects due to the off-shellness of the final-state boson decaying into leptons or quarks, as well as revisiting approximations that enters in the evolution of a high-energy collision into final-state jets of hadrons. In this thesis we develop a general formalism (massive dipoles and massive 5 flavor scheme) to systematically account for $b$-quark mass effects at all stages, from the $b$-quark parton densities in the initial-state protons to the matching of $b$ quarks from the hard scattering to the final-state hadrons via parton shower. Formal results form this thesis have been implemented in the\texttt{Madisqe} framework to allow the general calculation of Standard Model cross sections including the first order of QCD and electroweak corrections and accounting for full $b$-quark mass effects. Furthermore, they have been used to improve the efficiency and numerical stability of \texttt{NLOX}, a public domain framework for the automated calculation of one-loop Standard Model scattering amplitudes. As a particularly interesting study case, we present in this thesisthe case of $Z+b$ jets. The production of a $Z$ boson with bottom quarks can probe both the fundamental properties of $b$ quarks as constituents of hadrons and hadron jets, and represents one of the major backgrounds to precision measurements of Higgs-boson couplings in $ZH (H\rightarrow b\bar{b}$) associated production as well as in many searches of new physics. In this thesis, we study in particulat the impact of EW corrections and $b$-quark mass effects on total and differential rates for $Z+b$ jets at the LHC.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Automated Computations, Dipole Subtraction Formalism, High energy physics, Next-to-Leading Cross Section
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Laura Reina, Professor Directing Dissertation; Phillip Sura, University Representative; Takemichi Okui, Committee Member; Rachel Yohay, Committee Member; Jorge Piekarewicz, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Particles (Nuclear physics)
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Forbes_fsu_0071E_16570.pdf
TITLE: Not so Black and White: How Campus Racial Context Shapes the Experiences and Expectations of Queer Black Students
AUTHOR: Forbes, TehQuin D.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Ueno, Koji
MEMBER (university representative): Perez-Felkner, Lara
MEMBER (committee member): Schrock, Douglas P.
MEMBER (committee member): Buggs, Shantel
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Sociology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (119 pages)
ABSTRACT: How organizations (re)produce inequality is of premiere importance to sociologists. Higher education is one institution with many types of organizations (i.e., colleges and universities) ripe for sociological examination of unequal systems. Although an appreciable body of work examines racism in higher education, the effects of heterosexism in higher education are still under studied. Further, hardly any studies analyze how racism and heterosexism intersect to marginalize students who are both racial minorities – namely Black – and queer. No scholarship to date compares the experiences of queer Black students who attend primarily white institutions to those who attend primarily Black ones. This qualitative dissertation intervenes by being the first comparative analysis of how queer Black students at an HBCU understand and experience diversity differently from and similarly to queer Black students at a nearby PWI. Through interviews with 26 current students and recent graduates, informal conversations with students and university staff, field observation, and secondary analysis of university-administered campus climate survey data, this dissertation makes a timely and necessary contribution to extant scholarship via two main findings. The first is that queer Black students, occupying the unique social location of Black queerness, use complex negotiation strategies to construct themselves as outsiders or insiders at the PWI or the HBCU respectively. I find that the racial context of the home university and personal identity salience factors helped respondents either stick out or fit in, despite how objectively inclusive campus was or was not.  I attribute this divergence to diversity likely meaning different things in each context for students. Ultimately, queer Black students are, for the most part, unconvinced that their universities foster the creation of ally behaviors, identities, and ideologies necessary for them to feel wholly included as both Black people and queer people. In my conclusion, I discuss the significance of these findings as well as proffer several policy recommendations for educators and higher education administrators toward the end of making college and higher education more inclusive for everyone, but especially for Black queers.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 17, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Diversity, HBCUs, Higher education, LGBTQ+, Race
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Koji Ueno, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lara Perez-Felkner, University Representative; Doug Schrock, Committee Member; Shantel Gabrieal Buggs, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Sociology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: French_fsu_0071E_16697.pdf
TITLE: Adaptive Calibration of Partner Choosiness
AUTHOR: French, Juliana E.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Meltzer, Andrea L.
MEMBER (university representative): Taylor, Miles G., 1976-
MEMBER (committee member): Maner, Jon K.
MEMBER (committee member): McNulty, James
MEMBER (committee member): Hammock, Elizabeth Anne Dunn
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Psychology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (103 pages)
ABSTRACT: Individuals differ in how selective, or choosy, they are when selecting long-term relationship partners. An interdisciplinary approach suggests individual differences in partner choosiness may be shaped, at least in part, by ecological conditions that comprise individuals’ life histories (i.e., environmental harshness and unpredictability in childhood). I examined this possibility in three independent studies. In Study 1, I recruited a large sample of undergraduates to participate in an online study and operationalized partner choosiness as self-reported long-term partner standards. Results demonstrated preliminary support for the notion that people’s long-term partner standards are calibrated to the unpredictability of their early childhood ecologies. Moreover, this association was driven largely through relaxed standards for qualities associated with long-term relationship maintenance (i.e., partner warmth/trustworthiness) rather than qualities that directly benefit offspring (i.e., partner vitality/attractiveness, partner status/resources). In Study 2, I extended this work by (a) conceptualizing partner choosiness as a bet-hedging strategy whereby people may diversify their pool of prospective long-term partners, which reduces their risk of rejection but at the cost of reduced partner quality, and (b) exploring potential moderating factors of the hypothesized association between childhood ecology and partner choosiness. Consistent with predictions, childhood unpredictability was associated with both partner diversification and willingness to accept a lower-quality partner, and sex drive moderated this latter association. In Study 3, I examined adaptive calibration of behavioral partner choosiness in a real-life, speed-dating context. Although childhood ecology was not directly associated with behavioral choosiness, childhood harshness (but not unpredictability) was indirectly associated with behavioral choosiness through people’s long-term partner standards. Moreover, being less (versus more) choosy was associated with greater matching success. Together, these studies shed light on the origins and function of individual differences in partner choosiness.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 30, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Adaptive calibration, Close relationships, Life history theory, Partner standards, Romantic attraction
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Andrea L. Meltzer, Professor Directing Dissertation; Miles Taylor, University Representative; Jon K. Maner, Committee Member; James K. McNulty, Committee Member; Elizabeth Hammock, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Social psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Geer_fsu_0071E_16660.pdf
TITLE: Relations between Spatial and Math Skills in Elementary School Children: The Role of Domain-Specific Anxieties
AUTHOR: Geer, Elyssa A.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Ganley, Colleen M.
MEMBER (university representative): Whitacre, Ian Michael
MEMBER (committee member): Hart, Sara, (Professor of Psychology)
MEMBER (committee member): Boot, Walter Richard
MEMBER (committee member): Wagner, Richard K.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Psychology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (80 pages)
ABSTRACT: Research has consistently demonstrated a link between spatial and math skills as well as a link between spatial and math anxieties and their respective cognitive skill (i.e., links between math anxiety and math performance). However, less work has examined the potential for domain-specific and cross-domain relations and, more specifically, examined such relations in younger populations. To bridge the gap, the present study examined: (1) the potential causal direction of the relation between spatial and math skills while also accounting for the potential impact of reading skills on this relation and (2) the domain specificity of cognitive anxieties (spatial and math anxiety) as they relate to their relative cognitive skill in children. In a sample of 599 first graders, we examined potential reciprocal relations between math and spatial skills over two waves of data collection, while considering the potential impact of reading on these relations. Results suggest the existence of bidirectional causal relations between spatial and math skills, which remained significant when accounting for reading skills. We also examined the potential domain-specific and cross-domain relations between math and spatial anxiety and their respective cognitive skills, as well as the potential impact of accounting for reading skills on these relations. Results of these models suggest domain-specific relations between math anxiety and skills, but there is no evidence of domain-specific links between spatial anxiety and skills at this age. These results suggest that spatial skills and math anxiety may be potential targets for interventions to improve math outcomes.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Psychology.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 7, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Math, Math anxiety, Spatial, Spatial Anxiety
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Colleen M. Ganley, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ian Whitacre, University Representative; Sara A. Hart, Committee Member; Walter Boot, Committee Member; Richard K. Wagner, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Developmental psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Gerken_fsu_0071E_16472.pdf
TITLE: Isomeric Contributions to Stellar Nucleosynthesis
AUTHOR: Gerken, Nathan,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Almaraz-Calderon, Sergio J.
MEMBER (university representative): Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E.
MEMBER (committee member): Höflich, Peter, 1958-
MEMBER (committee member): Piekarewicz, Jorge
MEMBER (committee member): Weidenhoever, Ingo Ludwing M.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Physics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (72 pages)
ABSTRACT: The rapid-proton capture process (rp-process) is a series of proton capture and beta-decay reactions that proceed up the proton rich side of the chart of nuclides. It is an important part of stellar nucleosynthesis, and responsible for the creation of many elements present in the Universe. Nuclear physics information is needed to calculate the rate of reactions involved stellar nucleosynthesis. In particular, excitation energies, spin-parities, spectroscopic factors, partial and total widths, $\gamma$-decay energies, and branching ratios of the involved nuclei are all properties extracted from nuclear physics experiments used with theoretical calculations to determine the rate of the reactions involved. In this work, we investigate the effects of long lived excited states, known as isomeric states, on the rates of reactions involved in rp-process nucleosynthesis. Specifically, we focus on the isomeric states of $^{24}$Al (E$_{x}$ = 0.426 MeV, t$_{1/2}$ = 130 ms) and $^{26}$Al (E$_{x}$ = 0.228 MeV, t$_{1/2}$ = 6.35 s), and how they contribute to their respective proton capture reactions $^{24}$Al$^{m}$(p,$\gamma$)$^{25}$Si and $^{26}$Al$^{m}$(p,$\gamma$)$^{27}$Si. The rates of these reactions play a key role in the determination of final abundances of elements as well as abundances in meteorites and pre-solar grains. Radioactive beams of $^{24}$Na and $^{26}$Al were developed for this work and used to measure the $^{24}$Na(d,p)$^{25}$Na reaction at the John D Fox Laboratory and the $^{26}$Al(d,p)$^{27}$Al reaction at the ATLAS Facility at Argonne National Laboratory respectively. In both cases, a majority of the beam was in the isomeric state. Utilizing mirror symmetry, we were able to constrain the isomeric influence on the rates of the astrophysically relevant $^{24}$Al$^{m}$(p,$\gamma$)$^{25}$Si and $^{26}$Al$^{m}$(p,$\gamma$)$^{27}$Si reactions.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): March 30, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Isomers, Nuclear Physics, Nucleosynthesis
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Sergio Almaraz-Calderon, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt, University Representative; Peter Hoeﬂich, Committee Member; Jorge Piekarewicz, Committee Member; Ingo Wiedenhover, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Physics
SUBJECT: Nuclear physics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: GermanaRoquez_fsu_0071E_16670.pdf
TITLE: The Tablas De Sarhua: Indigenous Aesthetics in the Context of Contemporary Peruvian Art
AUTHOR: Germana Roquez, Gabriela,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Carrasco, Michael
MEMBER (university representative): Herrera, Robinson A., 1966-
MEMBER (committee member): Niell, Paul B., 1976-
MEMBER (committee member): Bearor, Karen A. (Karen Anne), 1950-
MEMBER (committee member): Dowell, Kristin L.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Art History
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (332 pages)
ABSTRACT: In this dissertation I examine the Tablas de Sarhua, paintings on board made by the people of the Andean peasant community of Sarhua, through an art history lens informed by the discourse on indigeneity and decoloniality. Since at least the nineteenth century, Sarhuinos make paintings on planks of wood on the occasion of the construction of a new house to record the family members who contributed to its construction. The paintings depict not only the people involved, but also a Catholic saint, the image of the sun, and a text in Spanish. The main purpose of these objects is to represent and therefore maintain systems of reciprocity and social cohesion within the community. Beginning in the 1970s, Sarhuino migrants living in Lima created a new kind of Tabla intended for the urban audience. The new Tablas, painted on rectangular wooden panels, initially depicted costumbrista scenes of rural Sarhua and later came to also address themes of social injustice and migrant life in Lima. Their enthralling story speaks to how objects made to commemorate social links within a rural town were transformed initially into paintings intended for the urban public and now have become embraced by the contemporary art world. The Tablas de Sarhua have followed a path similar to other forms of Indigenous art worldwide. However, like other Andean art objects linked to rural circuits, the Tablas and their rich history have received attention from the global art system only in ways still tainted by antiquated definitions of modernity and flawed the categories of craft, folk and tourist art. In this dissertation I analyze the Tablas de Sarhua within a new theoretical framework, one that brings the discipline of art history to bear on this material, and that positions the Tablas within the broader discourse on Indigenous art. I reconsider the aesthetic production of non-Western societies as responses and intrinsic components of modernity and contemporaneity. In order to study the paintings of Sarhua within their own systemic development, one of the main objectives of this dissertation is to unpack the way these paintings respond to colonial dynamics, both in Sarhua and in Lima, and to demonstrate the Sarhuino painters’ complex and active negotiation of power through the adaptation of their old practices and the appropriation and re-elaboration of modern Western aesthetics and knowledge to respond to and challenge colonial hegemony. In this dissertation I focus on five main topics spanning the changing contexts of the Tablas. I contend that reassessing their history, leads to a better appreciation of their contemporary manifestation. First, I tie the origins of the Tablas to the nineteenth century transit from colonial to Republican times, a period when other forms of peasant arts developed in the Andes. Then, I track the specific ways in which the Tablas coalesced through the complex relationship between objects, images, Sarhuino practices, and social spaces. Third, I demonstrate how Sarhuino artists in the capital city of Lima reshaped their old aesthetics and appropriated visual elements of the urban environment to negotiate with systems of political and social power. I contend that Sarhuinos created a style legible to urban audiences to communicate their own concerns, while at the same time they found in the Tablas a way to reinforce their group identity. Fourth, I analyze how Tablas are linked to other visual arts created in Lima in the 1970s and how they circulated through different regimes of value, being considered as folk-art, tourist art, and art pieces. I deconstruct the static categories attached to Tablas and demonstrate the shifting and contested discourses and values constructed about them. Finally, I look at the role of workshops in the development of the new paintings of Sarhua and at the individual agencies and diverse goals of the contemporary Sarhuino painters. I also examine the increasing role play by Sarhuino women artists and how some of them are responding to the hegemonic discourse, not only in terms of class and race, but also of gender, challenging the patriarchal social order from their particular situation and from there contributing to re-shape Peruvian contemporary art.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 14, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Andes, Contemporary Art, Decoloniality, Indigenous Art, Latin America, Race, class, and gender
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Michael D. Carrasco, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robinson Herrera, University Representative; Paul Niell, Committee Member; Karen Bearor, Committee Member; Kristin Dowel, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Art--History
SUBJECT: Latin America
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Gubara_fsu_0071E_16713.pdf
TITLE: The Association between Social Support and the Psychosocial Well-Being of Refugees
AUTHOR: Gubara, Sarah,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Jenkins, Lyndsay Nicole
MEMBER (university representative): Khurshid, Ayesha
MEMBER (committee member): Ebener, Deborah J.
MEMBER (committee member): Krach, S. Kathleen (Shelly Kathleen)
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (87 pages)
ABSTRACT: This study seeks to understand the relationship between social support and psychosocial well-being in refugees who have experienced high incidences of torture and trauma. Additionally, this study seeks to understand how the aforementioned relationship is impacted by sex and duration of stay in the United States, while controlling for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. A total of 253 participants were included in the study sample. Results of the study indicated that social support is a significant predictor of anxiety and depression in refugees. The study further reflects that social support accounts for 1% of the variance in refugee wellbeing while controlling for PTSD. Finally, the study found that sex was not a predictor of social support and psychosocial wellbeing and that time spent in the US was inversely correlated with social support and psychosocial wellbeing.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 30, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): psychosocial wellbeing, PTSD, refugees, social support
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Lyndsay Jenkins, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ayesha Khursid, University Representative; Deborah Ebener, Committee Member; S. Kathleen Krach, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Counseling psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Guerard_fsu_0071E_16642.pdf
TITLE: The Impact of English Language Proficiency, Social Connectedness and Perceived Discrimination on Academic Performance and Self Efficacy Amongst International Students
AUTHOR: Guerard, Jessika,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Osborn, Debra S., 1968-
MEMBER (university representative): Dennis, Lindsay Rae
MEMBER (committee member): Jenkins, Lyndsay Nicole
MEMBER (committee member): Roehrig, Alysia D., 1975-
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (126 pages)
ABSTRACT: The number of international students attending colleges and universities in the United States (U.S.) has been increasing over the past several years and is projected to continue to expand. International students encounter unique challenges during their transition of moving to the U.S. for academics. The present study employed a quantitative correlational cross-sectional design such that data was collected at one point in time and did not employ a longitudinal research design. Measures included in the study were the EPS, the SCS, the ASSIS, ASICS, and the GSE. Research question included (1) Does English language proficiency (ELP), social connectedness (SC), and perceived discrimination (PD) predict academic performance (AP) for international college students with self-efficacy (SE) as a mediator? Data was collected from a sample of 139 participants whom self-reported being a college international student who currently studying in the United States.A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test if a significant direct effect was observed between academic performance and self-efficacy, and between academic performance and English language proficiency, between self-efficacy and social connectedness, and self-efficacy and academic performance. Moreover, a significant effect was also observed between English language proficiency and TOEFL scores. No significant effect was found between academic performance and perceived discrimination, and between academic performance and social connectedness. In addition, the results of the analysis revealed no significant effect between self-efficacy and English language proficiency, and between self-efficacy and perceived discrimination. Finally, no significant effect was found between academic performance and the observed variable GPA, between self-efficacy, and GPA.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 16, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Debra Osborn, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lindsay Dennis, University Representative; Lyndsay Jenkins, Committee Member; Alysia Roehrig-Bice, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Counseling psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Hand_fsu_0071N_16565.pdf
TITLE: Examining the Relations between Preschoolers' Externalizing Behaviors and Academic Performance Using an S-1 Bifactor Model
AUTHOR: Hand, Eric D.,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Lonigan, Christopher J.
MEMBER (committee member): Meyer, Alexandria
MEMBER (committee member): Ganley, Colleen M.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Psychology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (43 pages)
ABSTRACT: Externalizing behaviors are associated with poor academic outcomes in community-based samples of children as young as preschool-age. However, there remains debate as to which specific externalizing dimensions link externalizing behaviors to early academic skills. Recently, research has supported the use of S-1 bifactor models to examine the hierarchical structure of externalizing behaviors and the unique relations between externalizing factors and academic impairment in samples of school-age children. The primary goals of this study were to extend the age range at which S-1 bifactor models are applied to externalizing behaviors and to determine if factors derived from an S-1 bifactor model had differing relations to early academic skills. In this study, the early academic skills of 1,356 preschool-age children (mean age = 49.98 months; SD = 8.08) were assessed, and preschool and childcare teachers rated children’s externalizing behaviors. Results indicated that an S-1 bifactor model with a Hyperactive-Impulsive reference factor yielded the best-fitting model for preschool-age children’s externalizing behaviors. Structural models revealed that both the Hyperactive-Impulsive reference factor and the Inattentive factor uniquely predicted preschool children’s early academic skills.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): May 25, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Christopher J. Lonigan, Professor Directing Thesis; Alexandria Meyer, Committee Member; Colleen Ganley, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Psychology
SUBJECT: Educational psychology
SUBJECT: Clinical psychology
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Healy_fsu_0071E_16683.pdf
TITLE: Tracing Techne: Distributed Histories of Invention, Creativity, and Text-Technologies in Rhetoric and Composition Scholarship from the 1990s
AUTHOR: Healy, Michael John,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Graban, Tarez Samra
MEMBER (university representative): Houck, Davis W.
MEMBER (committee member): Fleckenstein, Kristie S.
MEMBER (committee member): Neal, Michael R.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of English
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (228 pages)
ABSTRACT: This dissertation presents a novel approach to tracing the history of techne in 1990s through a data feminist curation methodology that selects, models, visualizes, and analyzes a selection of 1990s journals in Rhetoric and Composition. This dissertation arises from an interest with invention arising out of the 1990s to historicize creative pedagogies and theories of composing that were influenced by the discipline’s own historiographic uptake of the social turn to contextualize theory, pedagogy, and rhetorical history. I turn to techne for its theorizing of rhetorical invention in deriving value in the process of making with language and the utility of things made with language and point to the difficulty of tracing techne through traditional database research tools and historiographic methodologies. Out of this historical moment, this dissertation asks: What can a keyword examination of techne in 1990s rhetoric and composition scholarship reveal about its historical placements in the field? What are the principal ways in which histories of techne are linked to (or have been delinked from) histories of creativity, imagination, invention, and text technologies? What material or residual aspects of techne should historiographers trace in order to best explore the constellations of techne in published scholarship? How can a data curation methodology assist with the emergence of this trace?I propose a feminist data curation as a methodology that brings together data feminism and rhetorical historiography to trace the impressions of techne within a corpus made of nine rhetoric and composition journals from the 1990s. This project provides a methodology for using big data methods in Rhetoric and Composition scholarship in data curation, and enriches digital humanities work in the discipline. Out of this corpus, I use data curation to generate and analyze topics models of the corpus and snapshots of the corpus to identify and contextualize impressions of techne which emerge. To assist with locating impressions of techne within the scholarship, I use Kelly Pender’s five composition definitions of techne, topic modeling, and visualizations to trace impressions of techne within the scholarship of the decade. Visualizations help to contextualize and argue for relationships and trend in the generated topic models for the impressions of techne. Using data curation to trace techne, I found that impressions of the techne can be found throughout the decade and embedded within and alongside a number of other contexts. I then create a provisional historiographic trace of techne using data to support a re-historicization of the concept as emerging form 1990s scholarship. I further the history of techne through these provisional tracings of the concept through the selection of scholarship in the 1990s and propose avenues for enriching the history of techne. I also suggest that this history enriches theories of invention that inform current theory and pedagogies for composition.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 6, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Data Curation, Digital Humanities, History, Invention, Techne, Topic Modeling
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Tarez Samra Graban, Professor Directing Dissertation; Davis Houck, University Representative; Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Committee Member; Michael Neal, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Rhetoric
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Herbst_fsu_0071N_16734.pdf
TITLE: Skinner on Graham on Nixon: A Black Evangelical's Take on Public Reason
AUTHOR: Herbst, Zachary,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Kalbian, Aline H., 1954-
MEMBER (committee member): Kavka, Martin
MEMBER (committee member): Kelsay, John, 1953-
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Religion
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (64 pages)
ABSTRACT: Tom Skinner, a preacher and evangelist from Harlem during the 1960's and 70's was publicly critical of Billy Graham's support of Richard Nixon. He and Graham shared many of their theological commitments but not their political ones. This essay argues that his reasons for this are that he believes that America's interests are not God's interests and that non-Christians are on a level playing field with Christians when it comes to making political decisions.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Billy Graham, Evangelical, Rawls, Richard Nixon, Tom Skinner
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Aline Kalbian, Professor Directing Thesis; Martin Kavka, Committee Member; John Kelsay, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Religion
SUBJECT: Philosophy
SUBJECT: Ethics
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Hernandez_fsu_0071N_16718.pdf
TITLE: A Grounded Theory Analysis of Culture in Classroom Management Beliefs
AUTHOR: Hernandez, James A.,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Phillips, Beth M.
MEMBER (committee member): Roehrig, Alysia D., 1975-
MEMBER (committee member): Turner, Jeannine E.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (160 pages)
ABSTRACT: As the American student population continues to diversify, preparing teachers to effectively educate these students is paramount. Scholars have conducted an array of culture and classroom management studies attempting to ameliorate this concern. Although these studies appear promising, it remains unclear what the role of culture is in classroom management. Given the gaps in the literature, in this study I conducted a qualitative phenomenological exploration of teachers’ and students’ beliefs about the role of culture in classroom management. This study used a grounded theory analysis by triangulating four teachers’ and their students’ interviews contextualized with classroom pictures and observations from multiple settings. The results of this study yielded the inductively generated Culture in Classroom Management model. This model includes evidence-driven definitions of identity, culture, and classroom management that may be familiar to teachers. Additionally, the model can serve as an explanation of the role of culture in classroom management that may better prepare teachers to educate their diverse student population.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 15, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): classroom management, cultural diversity, culturally responsive classroom management, culture in classroom management, grounded theory analysis, identity
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Beth M. Phillips, Professor Directing Thesis; Alysia D. Roehrig, Committee Member; Jeannine E. Turner, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Educational psychology
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Hike_fsu_0071E_16779.pdf
TITLE: MRI-Based Network Analysis of Rodent Brains in the Monitoring of Disease Progression and Treatment Efficacy
AUTHOR: Hike, David,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Grant, Samuel C.
MEMBER (university representative): Bertram, R. (Richard)
MEMBER (committee member): Guan, Jingjiao
MEMBER (committee member): Li, Yan
MEMBER (committee member): Wilber, Aaron A. (Aaron Albert)
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (170 pages)
ABSTRACT: Neurodegenerative diseases affect large portions of the population worldwide and account for a significant portion of medical spending in associated costs. This dissertation will attempt to utilize graph theory and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques to monitor disease progression and treatment efficacy. The two forms of neurodegeneration presented here are Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and ischemic stroke. The two MRI methods utilized for this work are diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI). DTI provides a map of diffusional anisotropy based on the Brownian motion of water within the restricted boundaries of tissues. In the absence of direct stimulation, rs-fMRI displays cognitive activity based on the change in signal between oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin to establish correlations between different neuroanatomical regions. In this work, a high angular resolution DTI acquired with 18 diffusion directions was acquired using an 11.75-T, 500-MHz MRI scanner located at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and a 21.1-T, 900-MHz MRI scanner located at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory to perform tractography in 5xFAD and 3xTgAD mouse models of familial Alzheimer’s Disease. The 21.1-T scanner was used to perform the same DTI acquisition and rs-fMRI acquisitions on ischemic stroke models in rats, some of which received a human mesenchymal stem cell treatment to evaluate the structural and functional changes that occur over time, post-ischemia. The main neural areas of focus for the DTI studies were the piriform area of the cortex, temporal cortex, parietal cortex and hippocampus. In the rs-fMRI study, regions included the amygdala, hippocampus, midbrain, thalamus and striatum. Changes in the network metrics of weighted degree, eccentricity, clustering coefficient, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality, harmonic closeness centrality, and eigenvector centrality were measured as a function of age/time post-ischemia, phenotype (AD) and treatment regimen.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 7, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Samuel C. Grant, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard Bertram, University Representative; Jingjiao Guan, Committee Member; Yan Li, Committee Member; Aaron Wilber, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Biomedical engineering
SUBJECT: Neurosciences
SUBJECT: Neurosciences
SUBJECT: Diagnostic imaging
SUBJECT: Radiography, Medical
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Hogg_fsu_0071N_16749.pdf
TITLE: Identity Development in Adolescents Who Stutter
AUTHOR: Hogg, Kaylee Elizabeth,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Constantino, Christopher
MEMBER (committee member): Farquharson, Kelly
MEMBER (committee member): Therrien, Michelle
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Communication and Information
CORPORATE NAME: School of Communication Science and Disorders
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (37 pages)
ABSTRACT: Background: There is limited research on how stuttering identity develops. It is known that developing a positive stuttering identity is impacted by having a lack of role models who stutter, negative emotions related to stuttering, and negative social interactions.Purpose: To investigate how adolescents who stutter identify with stuttering and what factors contribute to developing a positive or negative regard for stuttering. Methods: Three adolescent participants who stutter between the ages of 13-17 were recruited for this study. Demographic surveys and qualitative semi-structured interviews were utilized for data collection. Data was analyzed using guidelines of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Responses were organized into the three themes and subthemes of: 1. Stuttering changes from a behavior to an identity which is influenced by the subthemes of ridicule/bullying and accommodations. 2. Growing awareness of stuttering identity influenced by positive and negative consequences. 3. Stuttering identity is incomplete, ambiguous, and uncertain during this time which is influence by domination of negative experiences over positive ones and lingering suspicion that stuttering is important. Conclusion: The results from this study support the notion that stuttering identity begins developing during the period of adolescents and that it is primarily influenced by negative experiences. It is clinically important to help this age group find meaningful experiences with stuttering to facilitate development of a more positive stuttering identity.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Communication Science and Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 9, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): adolescent, fluency , identity , stuttering
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Christopher Constantino, Professor Directing Thesis; Kelly Farquharson, Committee Member; Michelle Therrien, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Speech therapy
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Holsinger_fsu_0071E_16657.pdf
TITLE: Acquiescence over Activism: How Ngos Manage Authoritarian Demands
AUTHOR: Holsinger, Jordan,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Reenock, Christopher
MEMBER (university representative): Berlan, David G. (David Gregory)
MEMBER (committee member): Driscoll, Amanda M.
MEMBER (committee member): Ou, Kai
MEMBER (committee member): Carroll, Robert J.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Political Science
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (123 pages)
ABSTRACT: How do non-governmental organizations handle authoritarian pressure? NGOs exist to complete their missions, but can only do so when allowed by a regime. Meanwhile, autocrats benefit from NGO resources if they are not outweighed by costs that NGOs present. Despite this tension, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian settings are replete with NGOs. I employ a formal model to understand this paradox. I find that when a regime becomes more politically sensitive to NGOs, groups accommodate the regime by reducing costs. The model also suggests that NGOs with greater commitments to their host regime tend to reduce their activity. I use the announcement of controversial canal construction in Nicaragua as a quasi-experiment. The construction raised costs that NGOs presented, revealing how NGOs navigate the problem of operating where they are not welcome. I use an original dataset of 13,000 NGO budgets and geo-coded project locations to interrogate how NGOs react to politically fragile regimes. I demonstrate that NGOs respond to political sensitivity by operating in areas that support regime stability. Likewise, I demonstrate that NGOs committed to their promises, such as religious NGOs, exit in the event of a political shock.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 17, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Civil Society, Development, NGOs, Nicaragua
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Christopher Reenock, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Berlan, University Representative; Amanda Driscoll, Committee Member; Kai Ou, Committee Member; Robert Carroll, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Political science
SUBJECT: Latin America
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Holt_fsu_0071N_16541.pdf
TITLE: The Evolution of Stream Dissolved Organic Matter Composition Following Glacier Retreat in Coastal Watersheds of Southeast Alaska
AUTHOR: Holt, Amy Dehner,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Spencer, Robert G. M.
MEMBER (committee member): Chanton, Jeffrey P.
MEMBER (committee member): Mason, Olivia Underwood
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (40 pages)
ABSTRACT: Climate change is melting glaciers and altering watershed biogeochemistry across the globe, particularly in regions dominated by mountain glaciers, such as southeast Alaska. Glacier dominated watersheds exhibit distinct dissolved organic matter (DOM) characteristics compared to forested and vegetated watersheds. However, there is a paucity of information on how stream DOM composition changes as glaciers retreat and terrestrial ecosystem succession ensues. Importantly, it is unclear over what timescales these transformations occur. Here, we used bulk, isotopic and ultrahigh resolution molecular-level techniques to assess how streamwater DOM composition evolves in response to glacier retreat and subsequent terrestrial ecosystem succession. For this, water samples were collected from eleven streams across a chronosequence spanning a temporal gradient 0 to ~1,400 years since glacier retreat in coastal, southeast Alaska. During the first ~200 years since glacier retreat, stream DOM showed marked and consistent changes in bulk, isotopic, and molecular-level composition. In particular, there was a decreased abundance of ancient, energy-rich (e.g., elevated aliphatic contribution), low aromaticity (e.g., low SUVA254 and AImod) DOM and an increased abundance of soil and vegetation derived aromatic DOM (e.g., more depleted d13C, elevated condensed aromatic and polyphenolic contribution) that had a modern radiocarbon age. After ~200 years of ecosystem development, DOM composition was comparable to that observed for other temperate and arctic forested watersheds without permafrost influence. These results underscore the timelines on which glacier retreat may have substantial impacts on watershed biogeochemistry and coastal ecosystems that receive DOM subsidies from these rapidly changing landscapes.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): April 6, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): carbon isotopes, deglaciation, dissolved organic carbon, FT-ICR MS, Glacier Bay, succession
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Robert G. M. Spencer, Professor Directing Thesis; Jeffery Chanton, Committee Member; Olivia Mason, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Biogeochemistry
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Huang_fsu_0071E_16455.pdf
TITLE: Robust Machine Learning and the Application to Lane Change Decision Making Prediction
AUTHOR: Huang, Hua,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Barbu, Adrian G., 1971-
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Gallivan, Kyle A., 1958-
MEMBER (university representative): Liu, Xiuwen, 1966-
MEMBER (committee member): Ökten, Giray
MEMBER (committee member): Sussman, Mark
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Mathematics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (60 pages)
ABSTRACT: In the foreseeable future, autonomous vehicles will have to drive alongside human drivers. In the absence of vehicle-to-vehicle communication, they will have to be able to predict the other road users' intentions.  It is critical to be able to learn a human driver's mental model and integrate it into the planning and control algorithm. In this dissertation, we first present a robust method to predict lane changes as cooperative or adversarial. For that, we first introduce a method to annotate lane changes as cooperative and adversarial based on the entire lane change trajectory. We then propose to train a specially designed neural network to predict the lane change label before the lane change has occurred and quantify the prediction uncertainty. The model will make lane change decisions following human drivers' driving habits and preferences, i.e., it will only change lanes when the surrounding traffic is considered to be appropriate for the majority of human drivers. It will also recognize unseen novel samples and output low prediction confidence correspondingly, to alert the driver to take control or take conservative actions in such cases.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Mathematics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): March 26, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): out-of-distribution sample detection, robust machine learning, uncertainty quantification
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Adrian Barbu, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Kyle Gallivan, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Xiuwen Liu, University Representative; Giray Okten, Committee Member; Mark Sussman, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Mathematics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Hudis_fsu_0071E_16762.pdf
TITLE: Persistent Current Dynamics in Asymmetric Superconducting Nanorings
AUTHOR: Hudis, Jacob B.,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Xiong, Peng
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Chiorescu, Irinel
MEMBER (university representative): Guan, Jingjiao
MEMBER (committee member): Piekarewicz, Jorge
MEMBER (committee member): Bonesteel, N. E.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Physics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (128 pages)
ABSTRACT: Doubly-connected superconducting loops are a class of superconducting devices of longstandinginterest in fundamental physics and practical applications. They have been studied since early 1960s and have received intensive recent interest due to their relevance in superconducting qubits and related circuits. Of particular interest are the dynamics of supercurrent in such devices. The overwhelming majority of the studies in the field have focused on symmetric devices. In this dissertation, we present a study of experimental measurements and theoretical modeling of the persistent current dynamics in asymmetric doubly connected superconducting loops. The asymmetry induces a multimodal critical current which is well-described by a model invoking the modulation of the superconducting persistent current in the loop in the form of nucleation of coreless vortices. The asymmetric loops are composed of two geometrically distinct nanowires connected in parallel. Specifically, asymmetric aluminum nanorings were fabricated using electron beam lithography. The devices were designed and fabricated so that the current distribution is dominated by kinetic inductance. Using a technique of repeated ramping of pulsed current, we measured the possible critical current(s) of an asymmetric aluminum nanoring at various applied magnetic field. The data was used to construct switching current contour plots in order to ascertain the possibility of a multimodal distribution. In contrast to symmetric devices, for all devices we measured, we observed multiple switching current values for each value of applied magnetic field; in other words, a given device exhibits multiple stacked critical current curves. The number of distinct critical currents increases with the degree of asymmetry. Our experimental results show several characteristic features consistent with persistent current modulation due to flux quantization in the presence of device asymmetry. The measured I-V curves showed voltage plateaus in the superconducting state, instead of a single discontinuous transition to the normal state. Voltage jumps in the I-V curve are consistent with changes in the phase winding number induced by a coreless vortex nucleating in the nanoring to preserve superconductivity. Our findings are in agreement with a numerical modeling of an asymmetric superconducting loop based on the time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau theory (G. R. Berdiyorov, M. V. Miloˇsevi´c, and F. M. Peeters Phys. Rev. B 81, 144511), which gave specific predictions on asymmetry induced multi-valued critical current. Our analysis provides a physical and quantitative understanding of the multimodal critical current behavior experimentally observed. Specifically, it directly showed that a bias current can cause coreless vortices to nucleate in an asymmetric superconducting nanoring. This dissertation study provides a number of useful insights on the effects of asymmetry on the electronic characteristics of doubly-connected superconducting devices. The underlying physics behind these phenomena is interesting in its own right, and may be exploited in superconducting integrated circuits and related technologies; furthermore, the effects of asymmetry may find relevance in the understanding and optimization of the ubiquitous symmetric superconducting devices, in which varying degrees of unintended asymmetry are always present.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 6, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): asymmetric nanorings, critical current, SQUID, superconductivity
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Peng Xiong, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Irinel Chiorescu, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Jingjiao Guan, University Representative; Jorge Piekarewicz, Committee Member; Nicholas Bonesteel, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Condensed matter
SUBJECT: Low temperatures
SUBJECT: Materials science
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Imhoff_fsu_0071E_16699.pdf
TITLE: Mercury Contamination and Its Relation to Trophic Ecology and Anthropogenic Pollution in Coastal and Deep Sea Shark Communities
AUTHOR: Imhoff, Johanna Leigh,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Grubbs, R. Dean
MEMBER (university representative): Chanton, Jeffrey P.
MEMBER (committee member): Miller, Thomas E., (Professor of Biological Science)
MEMBER (committee member): Travis, Joseph, 1953-
MEMBER (committee member): Winn, Alice A.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Biological Science
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (89 pages)
ABSTRACT: The effect of changing anthropogenic mercury emissions on marine wildlife is of broad interest. Methylmercury can cause reproductive and neurological damage and biomagnifies in food webs. Mercury availability in the Pacific Ocean has been increasing and therefore could be expected to increase in marine fishes. In Hawaii, tunas have shown increases proportional to increasing oceanic mercury over several decades. Historical data on shark muscle mercury is also available for Hawaii, presenting an opportunity for comparison in a long-lived upper trophic level cartilaginous fish. Muscle samples were opportunistically collected from sandbar sharks in 2003-2005 for mercury analysis and comparison with published data from 1971. Mercury contamination was similar in sandbar sharks collected in the two time periods, in contrast to tunas. Sandbar sharks collected in 2003-2005 had a higher observed rate of stillborn embryos than previously documented. Since mercury can cause reproductive toxicity, muscle mercury contamination was quantified in available sandbar shark embryos. Contamination was similar in stillborn and viable embryos, indicating that mercury toxicity was likely not the cause of embryo death. Mercury does not appear to have changed in sandbar sharks and the observed frequency of stillborn sharks does not appear to be due to increasing mercury emissions over three decades. Deep sea chondricthyans comprise nearly half of global chondrichthyan fauna but have been researched relatively less than their coastal and pelagic counterparts. As long-lived mesopredators and apex predators in their food webs, deep sea shark can bioaccumulate high levels of mercury in their tissues. Mercury was measured in six species of relatively abundant deep sea sharks in the GOM that inhabit the continental shelf edge to the continental slope. To attempt to address whether the Deepwater Horizon oil spill indirectly affected bioavailability of methylmercury in GOM, the same or closely related species were also analyzed from regions not affected by the oil spill. Overall, Mustelus sinusmexicanus had the lowest mercury among the GOM sharks analyzed, and Squalus clarkae had the highest. The remaining four species were similar to one another in their mercury contamination. Regional comparisons revealed similar contamination between M. canis canis in the GOM and M. canis insularis in Eleuthera. Eleuthera S. cubensis had similar mercury contamination to GOM S. clarkae, to which they were closer in size than GOM S. cubensis. GOM Centrophorus granulosus had higher mercury contamination than Virginia C. granulosus but this was only marginally significant. There was a slight and non-significant increase in mercury with depth in the GOM. M. canis caught on the east side of De Soto Canyon had significantly higher mercury than those caught on the west side of De Soto Canyon. The opposite pattern was seen in C. uyato, with higher mercury concentrations on the west side of the canyon, but these results may be strongly influenced by sample size for both species. Since mercury bioaccumulation in organisms is tightly linked to biomagnification, mercury studies are often coupled with trophic ecology studies using light stable isotopes as tracers. Since animals vary in the quantity of lipids that they store in their tissues, and since the presence of lipids can affect δ13C signatures, it is necessary to explore these effects to correctly interpret δ13C results. A particular challenge for chondrichthyan fishes is that they store isotopically light nitrogenous wastes in their tissues for osmoregulation, and this can affect the interpretation of δ15N, sometimes leading to inaccurate interpretation of trophic level. The effects of lipids and nitrogenous wastes on stable isotope analysis of chondrichthyan fishes has been an important aspect of trophic ecology research on this group. The effects of lipid extraction, urea extraction, and combined lipid and urea extraction compared to bulk tissue were tested on a coastal and deep sea teleost and a coastal and deep sea elasmobranch as representatives that might be included in coast to deep sea food web studies. Since mercury analysis requires the same initial muscle tissue handling steps as stable isotope analysis (SIA), the effects of treatments on mercury quantification were also tested. The results suggest that chemical lipid extraction is necessary for accurate interpretation of SIA results in coastal and deep sea teleosts and elasmobranchs and that urea was extracted sufficiently during the lipid extraction, therefore additional urea extraction steps are not necessary. Additionally, it may be possible for researchers to use leftover treated muscle from SIA to obtain accurate mercury results. Future research on trophic ecology including SIA informed by this research may help to provide context for mercury findings in GOM deep sea sharks.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): deep sea, elasmobranch, mercury, shark, trophic ecology
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): R. Dean Grubbs, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jeffrey P. Chanton, University Representative; Thomas E. Miller, Committee Member; Joseph Travis, Committee Member; Alice A. Winn, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Ecology
SUBJECT: Toxicology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Irvan_fsu_0071E_16693.pdf
TITLE: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? : Perceptions of Moral Exemplars Who Commit Moral Violations
AUTHOR: Irvan, Kassidy R.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Conway, Paul, (Psychology Professor)
MEMBER (university representative): Westlund, Andrea C. (Andrea Carol)
MEMBER (committee member): Maner, Jon K.
MEMBER (committee member): Plant, Ashby
MEMBER (committee member): Wagner, Richard K.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Psychology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (110 pages)
ABSTRACT: Do people grant moral exemplars the benefit of the doubt for bad behavior, or hold them to a higher standard than morally average targets? Across 5 studies, we compared evaluations of moral character between exemplars and ‘average Joes’ who either succeeded or failed to act prescriptively or proscriptively. In Studies 1, 2a, and 2b, moral exemplars received similar moral evaluations relative to average Joes after prescriptive failures, indicating that participants do not hold exemplars to higher standards for prosocial acts. In Study 3, participants evaluated exemplars more positively than average targets for proscriptive failures, suggesting that exemplars receive a reputational buffer when they engage in immoral behaviors; however, Study 4 did not replicate this effect. Study 5 further clarified the conflicting findings from Studies 3 and 4, showing that participants evaluate exemplars similarly to average targets for committing immoral acts even when the overall immorality of the act is ambiguous. Interestingly, we also found that participants make distinctions between positive, non-moral evaluations and morally relevant evaluations.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 3, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Character, Moral Exceptionality, Moral Exemplar, Morality, Person Perception
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Paul Conway, Professor Directing Dissertation; Andrea Westlund, University Representative; Jon Maner, Committee Member; E. Ashby Plant, Committee Member; Richard Wagner, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Social psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: ISAQZAI_fsu_0071E_16583.pdf
TITLE: School Management Shura for Girls' Education in Afghanistan
AUTHOR: Isaqzai, Sohaila,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Zuilkowski, Stephanie Simmons
MEMBER (university representative): Hellweg, Joseph
MEMBER (committee member): Milligan, Jeffrey Ayala
MEMBER (committee member): Rutledge, Stacey A.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Education
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (185 pages)
ABSTRACT: Historically, girls’ education has been problematic in Afghanistan, where girls’ education was challenged or even banned by many groups of people and regimes. Recent years have seen significant improvement; starting with one million boys and no girls at school after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the Afghan education system grew ninefold and now has close to nine million children enrolled, 39 percent of which are girls (MoE, 2017a). This achievement is far from complete. There are still approximately three million girls out of school (MoE, 2017a). The Afghan government and its partners have planned many projects and initiatives to address this issue. One of them is community mobilization through the establishment of School Management Shuras (SMS). There are more than 16,000 shuras registered with the MoE. However, not all of these SMSs are active. In this study, I propose that SMS can be an effective way to bring more girls to school and to improve girls’ education overall. It has been argued that community organizations such as SMS can be specifically effective in promoting girls’ education in more conservative and traditional societies such as Afghanistan. However, the SMS needs support to become an active agent. Research on SMS in Afghanistan, and similar structures in neighboring countries, suggests that such supports can be provided to SMS through training and clear plan on roles, responsibility, and authorities. Moreover, there is a need to know more about SMS and how they function and support girls’ education. This knowledge may help understand how the government or other partners can strengthen shuras and increase the number of active SMSs. Therefore, this qualitative single case study explores the experience of a successful SMS that has been able to promote girls’ education in their community. In this study, I explore how the SMS improved girls’ education and what challenges it faced. The findings of the study are divided into three sections. The first group of findings shows how the SMS improved girls’ education through different activities they carry inside and outside the school. The second group of findings looks at factors that enable the SMS to carry the mentioned activities and, thus, improve girls’ education in their community. Finally, the third group of findings looks at challenges that the SMS faces while working for girls’ education.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 7, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, Professor Directing Dissertation; Joseph Hellweg, University Representative; Jeffrey Milligan, Committee Member; Stacy Rutledge, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Education
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Jackson_fsu_0071E_16617.pdf
TITLE: Sisterhood, Safe Spaces and Self-Affirmations: How Black Women Practice Self-Care in Response to Racism and Discrimination
AUTHOR: Jackson, Taylor,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Davis, Katrinell
MEMBER (university representative): Plant, Ashby
MEMBER (committee member): Rohlinger, Deana A.
MEMBER (committee member): Buggs, Shantel
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Sociology