ABSTRACT: My dissertation examined the effect of adaptive prompts in virtual reality (VR) based social skills training on social skills of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In my dissertation, adaptive prompts refer to an instructional technique to enhance social skill performance of children with ASD considering their emotional states. Despite the existing effects of prompts in social skills training, such prompts have been used largely by trainers’ clinical decisions. Also, ASD children’s emotional sensitivity and highly complex visual stimuli in VR may overwhelm them in VR-based training. Given these concerns, a timely and tailored support to draw attention and keep ASD children engaged in training is essential. However, little research has explored the design and implementation of adaptive prompts in VR-based training. Particularly, there is a lack of research examining the effect of adaptive prompts in VR-based social skills training. Using speech data mining and the macro-adaptivity design, I built and implemented adaptive prompts to enhance social skill performance of children with ASD. I used alternating treatments design (ATD), a type of single-case experimental design, to evaluate and compare the effects of adaptive and non-adaptive prompt conditions in VR-based social skills training. Endorsing this research design, I sampled a total of four children with ASD (12-13 years). I conducted multiple data analyses (i.e., paired t-tests, independent-group t-tests, visual analyses, video observations, and effect size computation) to examine the effects of adaptive prompts on social skills performance. The findings of this study showed that adaptive prompts were effective in promoting the positive performance of social skills. Specifically, multiple independent-group t-test results demonstrated that there was statistically significant improvement of positive performance of both social interaction initiation and interpersonal negotiation. The visual analyses and effect size computation results also corroborated that using adaptive prompts yielded small improvement of social skills performance.
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 28, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): adaptive prompt, autism spectrum disorder, social skills training, speech data mining, virtual reality
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Fengfeng Ke, Professor Directing Dissertation; Xin Yuan, University Representative; James D. Klein, Committee Member; Qian Zhang, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Educational technology
SUBJECT: Education
SUBJECT: Special education
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: MOORE_fsu_0071E_16601.pdf
TITLE: Investigating Significant Mutations of US SARS-CoV-2 RNA Sequences Using Stratified Spaces, and Genetic Connection to Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) through Statistical Learning Methods
AUTHOR: Moore, Roland,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Patrangenaru, Victor
MEMBER (university representative): Andrei, Petru
MEMBER (committee member): Barrientos, Andrés Felipe
MEMBER (committee member): Huang, Chao
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Statistics
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (86 pages)
ABSTRACT: The first half of this dissertation aims to give a motivation for working with metric tree data. We give a brief introduction and application of data analysis on stratified spaces with special emphasis on phylogenetic tree data analysis. Thus, we apply ideas from phylogenetic tree spaces (Billera et. al. (2001)) and statistical analysis on them to investigate RNA sequence mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In particular, we consider large sample results on tree spaces, and more generally on stratified spaces, that are object spaces with a manifold stratification structure. The most important phenomenon to be extended in our research is the stickiness of the intrinsic and extrinsic sample means, which was first discovered by Basrak (2010) in the case of binary tree spaces.We mainly constructed three-leave Phylogenetic trees from United States SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequences to generate genetic diversity distance data. Statistical inferences on the virus’s mutations within the first, second, and third six-month periods were then made based on the CLT for sticky and regular sample means on object spaces, as developed in Object Data Analysis (see Patrangenaru and Ellingson (2015)). Our results aligned with molecular and evolutionary biology theory that the virus’s RNA sequences constantly mutate, and with time, may develop possible variants of interest (Grubaugh et. al. (2020)). The second half of this dissertation is on Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI), which is one of the major causes of drug development failure or drug withdrawal from the market after development. Therefore, investigating factors associated with DILI is of paramount importance. Environmental factors that contribute to DILI have been investigated and are, by and large, known. However, recent genomic studies have indicated that genetic diversity can lead to inter-individual differences in drug response. Consequently, it has become necessary to also investigate how genetic factors contribute to the development of DILI in the presence of environmental factors. Thus, our aim is to find appropriate statistical methods to investigate gene-gene and/or gene-environment interactions that are associated with DILI. This is an initial study that only explores statistical learning methods to find gen-gene interactions (epistasis). We introduce Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction (MDR), Random Forest (plus logistic regression), and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), as the few potential methodological approaches that we found. Next, we improved the MARS method by combining it with a variable selection method.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Statistics 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): Victor Patrangenaru, Professor Directing Dissertation; Petru Andrei, University Representative; Andres Barrientos, Committee Member; Chao Huang, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Biometry
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Morgan_fsu_0071E_16608.pdf
TITLE: A Multiple Scale Approach to Understand Connectivity and Fragmentation of Seamount Megafaunal Assemblages in the North Pacific
AUTHOR: Morgan, Nicole Butler,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Baco-Taylor, Amy R. (Amy Rose)
MEMBER (university representative): Beerli, Peter
MEMBER (committee member): Brooke, Sandra
MEMBER (committee member): Huettel, Markus
MEMBER (committee member): Inouye, Brian D.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (160 pages)
ABSTRACT: In the North Pacific, seamounts are important ecological hotspots for deep-sea species found below 200 m. Connectivity of deep-sea fauna in this area is of great interest to fisheries and conservation management for possible restoration and mitigation of anthropogenic impacts. This work examines how seamount fauna are connected at multiple scales to further understand how the variety of seamount habitats can impact the distribution and connectivity of those assemblages. To look at connectivity at a fine scale, environmental data and assemblage structure was analyzed from image data between three sides of Mokumanamana seamount between 200 and 700 m of depth. The assemblages found at the three sides are significantly different (global R=0.807, p=0.001), though shallower assemblages are more similar to each other at any side than deeper assemblages. Assemblages were also different between shallow and deep samples within any one side of Mokumanamana (global R=0.80, p=0.001), and all assemblage differences were influenced by environmental variables of sediment levels, substrate variability and roughness, oxygen, particulate organic carbon, and surface currents. The microhabitats caused by substrate changes and changes in depth allow for unique assemblages to be found within a feature, and greatly increase diversity of the area. To understand connectivity at a much larger geographic scale, populations of the precious red coral Hemicorallium laauense were sampled at 16 locations across the Hawaiian Archipelago, and seven microsatellite loci were amplified in 270 individuals to compare genetic connectivity within and between seamounts. Corals on these locations show significant population differentiation at a global scale (G'ST = 0.17, p = 0.01), as well as differentiation within features. DAPC showed a pattern of separation of the Main Hawaiian Islands from the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, though samples from Ka'ena Point appear to form their own cluster and Bank 8 clusters with the Main Hawaiian Islands. Membership assignments showed moderate admixture between some locations, while East and West Northampton and Raita Bank showed almost no admixture. K-means cluster assignments instead show five populations that are well distributed throughout the Hawaiian Archipelago, and some pairwise G'ST values are nearly zero for very distant populations. The unexpected pattern of more differentiation at smaller spatial scales compared to wider spatial scales is likely tied to extremely patchy distributions, episodic recruitment, and overlapping generations of long-lived corals that creates a sweepstakes effect on allele frequencies. Also an important location in the North Pacific, the Emperor Seamount Chain and North Hawaiian Ridge (ES-NHR) have been heavily fished by deep-sea trawling vessels since the 1950's, but this high-seas region has recently come under management by the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC). With an understanding that the affected seamount communities can have very patchy distributions, and be dominated by local recruitment for larvae, a fine-scale approach was taken to better define the fishing footprint of trawling vessels using the open-source satellite Automated Identification System data provided by Global Fishing Watch. Bottom-fishing activity was quantified from 2012 – 2018 at a 0.01 by 0.01-degree scale, and much of the fishing was focused on just four seamounts of 14 features managed by the NPFC. Another four seamounts show minor bottom fishing activity, while no activity was identified on the remaining six features. Voluntary closures on Koko Seamount and C-H seamount to protect known spawning grounds and vulnerable ecosystems appear to be observed by fishing vessels. In addition to satellite data, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) surveys from 2014 and 2015 provide visual data on the fishing footprint through trawl scars and locations of abundant megafauna where fishing has likely been avoided. AUV data suggests the fishing footprint was either not fully encompassed by satellite data, or it has moved through time. Locations of remnant or recovering coral and sponge populations found in AUV data can provide starting points for further small-scale closures that will likely not impact fishing in the area but will protect vulnerable ecosystems in this area. These studies provide further understanding on the connectivity of seamount assemblages, the potential human impacts on connectivity, and can aid in developing science-based management plans that work with the heterogeneity and patchiness that have been found for seamount ecosystems.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 1, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Connectivity, Deep-sea, Fisheries, North Pacific, Population genetics, Seamount
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Amy Baco-Taylor, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peter Beerli, University Representative; Sandra Brooke, Committee Member; Markus Huettel, Committee Member; Brian Inouye, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Marine biology
SUBJECT: Ecology
SUBJECT: Genetics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Mozo_fsu_0071N_16738.pdf
TITLE: Healthcare Student Well-Being within Informal Learning Spaces
AUTHOR: Mozo, Caroline,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Huber, Amy M.
MEMBER (committee member): Pable, Jill
MEMBER (committee member): Webber, Steven B.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Interior Architecture and Design
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (296 pages)
ABSTRACT: Medical doctors, physician assistants, and registered nurses are professions in high demand (AAMC, 2019; Gdiesing, 2019; Mercer, 2020). Yet, too few of these professionals are joining the workforce (Flier, 2018). One potential reason for this gap may stem from the rigor of healthcare curriculums, which potentially puts these students at risk for reduced well-being, in turn negatively impacting their success and retention. While literature has identified fostering community, encouraging engagement, and mitigating burnout and fatigue as factors positively associated with supporting student well-being, less is known about the healthcare student population. At the same time, higher education institutions have grown increasingly interested in informal learning environments. Research suggests that built environment elements can support student learning and engagement (Fisher, 2015; Laage, Thorpe, Wallace, & Wu, 2019; Lanteigne, 2017). To improve healthcare student well-being, support the success and retention of healthcare students, and help mitigate the current healthcare worker shortage, this study used frameworks of subjective well-being to identify which supportive elements of the built environment were preferred by healthcare students within informal learning spaces. More specifically, it assessed their preferences for environmental features that foster community, course engagement, and reduce stress and fatigue. Data was collected via a survey instrument and online interviews. Findings confirm that healthcare students likely face significant stress from a variety of sources. Of the six categories on Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Wellbeing, respondents scored lowest in autonomy. In terms of spatial preferences, participants selected spaces with features supporting dynamic collaboration and discussion to foster community. Interviews further revealed the importance of peer support to foster community, encourage engagement, and mitigate fatigue and burnout. When asked about engagement with course content, participant responses revealed a spectrum of preferences related to focused work. Student interviews provided more nuanced evidence pointing to specific needs relative to tasks. Taken together, these insights suggest the need for flexible, accommodating informal learning spaces that attend to the various needs of different students and their respective modes of study. Along with peer engagement, another emergent theme surrounded the need for change and choice, which are complemented by positive distractions and access to natural views and biophilic elements. These data were used to inform a hypothetical design solution for a higher education facility along with design guidelines. This work can be used to inform the design of informal learning spaces that support user well-being, provide higher education administrators and designers recommendations for the subsequent designs of higher education facilities, add to the existing body of knowledge related to well-being and the built environment, and, ultimately, support student well-being to improve success and retention outcomes.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Interior Architecture and Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 28, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Built Environment, Healthcare, Higher Education, Informal Learning, Interior Design, Well-Being
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Amy Huber, Professor Directing Thesis; Jill Pable, Committee Member; Steven Webber, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Design
SUBJECT: Health education
SUBJECT: Education, Higher
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Murphy_fsu_0071E_16579.pdf
TITLE: The Impact of Perceived Person-Organization Fit, Internship Satisfaction, and Personality Traits on Commitment to Teaching and Intention to Quit of Pre-Service Teacher Interns
AUTHOR: Murphy, David H.,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Osborn, Debra S., 1968-
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Dozier, V. Casey (Virginia Casey)
MEMBER (university representative): Holmes, R. Michael (Robert Michael), Jr.
MEMBER (committee member): Ebener, Deborah J.
MEMBER (committee member): Becker, Martin Swanbrow
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 (213 pages)
ABSTRACT: The current study examined the impact of Big-Five personality traits, Perceived Person-Organization Fit, and Internship Satisfaction on Commitment to Teaching and Intention to Quit of pre-service teachers during their internship. The sample was comprised of 114 pre-service teachers who were completing their final semester-long internship of their combined five-year bachelor’s/master’s degrees in education. The current study had one theoretical foundation: the Theory of Work Adjustment (TWA). The Mini-Markers Scale (Saucier, 1994) was used to measure the Big-Five personality traits of interns while the Perceived Person-Organization (P-O) Fit Scale (Saks & Ashforth, 1997) was used to match the fit between an intern and their internship organization. Internship Satisfaction was measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire Short-Form (MSQ-SF; Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967), an instrument that was adapted to internships to measure Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and General Satisfaction. Lastly, Commitment to Teaching was measured by the Occupational Commitment to Teaching Scale (Klassen & Chiu, 2011), and Intention to Quit was measured by the Intention to Quit Scale (Klassen & Chiu, 2011). The first hierarchical multiple regression was performed to determine the significant predictors of Internship Satisfaction. Results indicated that Agreeableness, Openness, and Perceived P-O Fit were significant predictors of Internship Satisfaction. Perceived P-O Fit was found to be the best predictor of Internship Satisfaction, accounting for 41% of the change in variance. The Big-Five personality traits and P-O Fit accounted for 52% of the variance in Internship Satisfaction. A second hierarchical multiple regression was performed to determine significant predictors of Commitment to Teaching and Intention to Quit. Agreeableness was significantly associated with Commitment to Teaching, while Extraversion was significantly associated with both Commitment to Teaching and Intention to Quit. Perceived P-O Fit and Internship Satisfaction were both significant predictor of Commitment to Teaching and Intention to Quit. Additional analyses examined the correlations between the personality traits of Agreeableness and Openness with individual items of Internship Satisfaction. Also, an additional analysis identified the significant correlations between individual items of Internship Satisfaction and Commitment to Teaching/Intention to Quit. Open-ended comments were analyzed to provide a fuller explanation of quantitative data. Lastly, an additional analysis (independent t-test) was performed to determine if any significant differences existed between the means of variables from the Spring 2020 cohort to the Spring 2021 cohort. A discussion of the findings is given, followed by the study’s limitations, and the implications for theory, practice, education and training, and research.
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 14, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Big-Five personality traits, internships, pre-service teachers, Theory of Work Adjustment
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Debra Osborn, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; V. Casey Dozier, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Michael Holmes, University Representative; Deborah Ebener, Committee Member; Marty Swanbrow Becker, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Counseling psychology
SUBJECT: Education
SUBJECT: Personality
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Nagarajan_fsu_0071N_16672.pdf
TITLE: Comparative Study on Generative Adversarial Networks: DCGAN and Cycle GAN
AUTHOR: Nagarajan, Aakash,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Foo, Simon Y.
MEMBER (committee member): Roberts, Rodney G.
MEMBER (committee member): Andrei, Petru
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 (111 pages)
ABSTRACT: Computer vision is a field of deep learning that aims to help a computer interpret and visualizethe real world. With computer vision evolving as an indispensable development in the field of machine learning, it is being increasingly used in a wide range of applications from autonomous cars to automated surveillance systems. With the technological advancements on a constant rise such as the monumental improvements in processing power and Graphic Processing units, deep learning has become more usable than ever. The advent of newer deep learning technologies has given rise to practical applications of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs). Simply, GANs are used to generate synthetic examples for data that are very close to the actual examples that can confuse the classifier and cause wrong classifications. Thus GANs can be used in two different methods: To train a computer vision system to be resilient against adversarial attacks by training it with synthetic examples generated by GAN or To attack a computer vision system and breaking its integrity using synthetic examples. In adversarial mode, GANs are used to synthesize adversarial examples that force the trained classifier algorithm to wrongly classify the target classes There are various types of GANs being used in different applications, the most common GANs used are Deep Convolutional GAN (DCGAN) and Cycle GANs. While DCGANs are predominantly used to synthesize artificial data that is indistinguishable by a classifier, Cycle GANs are used to synthesize image-to-image transition examples. This thesis focuses on these two types of GANs by implementing them on datasets, analyzing their advantages, disadvantages, and suggestions for future improvements
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 23, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Convolutional Neural Networks, Cycle-GAN, DCGAN, Deep Learning, Generative Adversarial Networks, Machine Learning
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Simon Foo, Professor Directing Thesis; Rodney Roberts, Committee Member; Petru Andrei, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Computer engineering
SUBJECT: Electrical engineering
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Neu_fsu_0071E_16288.pdf
TITLE: Nb2PdxSe5: Tuning Superconductivity, Electronic Properties and Structure with Pd Intercalation
AUTHOR: Neu, Jennifer,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Siegrist, Theo
MEMBER (university representative): Ma, Biwu, 1980-
MEMBER (committee member): Beekman, Christianne
MEMBER (committee member): Capstick, Simon, 1958-
MEMBER (committee member): Xiong, Peng
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 (116 pages)
ABSTRACT: $Nb_2Pd_xSe_5$ is a high-field, anisotropic, $2-$band superconductor with both electron-like and hole-like charge carriers at the Fermi level. The crystal structure is assembled such that $2D$ sheets of $Nb_4Pd_1Se_{10}$ are connected to each other by an inter-sheet non$-$stoichiometric palladium atom site, referred to as the $Pd2$ site. This work provides the first in-depth study of the crystal structure and physical properties of $Nb_2Pd_xSe_5$ as a function of $Pd2$ content. \\\indent Employing a modified solid-state growth technique, single crystals were obtained over an extended range of stoichiometries with $Pd2$ occupancy from $0.36$ to $0.90$. The structure allows different $Pd2$ occupancy, up to a value of 1.0, however, unexpected Pd2 occ miscibility gaps are identified. The miscibility ranges are linked to the formation of different occupation density wave superstructures that are coherent over length scales of ${\approx}1000{\AA}$. For $Pd2$ occ near $\frac{1}{2}$, the superstructure is well described with a 1-dimensional $Pd2$ occupation density wave along the monoclinic $b-axis$ ($[010]$, growth or needle axis) and approximate period of $68{\AA}$, about $19$ times the $b-axis$ length. The 1-dimensional $Pd2$ motif is retained for $Pd2$ $occ$ up to $0.615{\approx}\frac{8}{13}$ and modulation along $b$ with periodicity about $12$ times the $b-axis$ length. In single crystals with $Pd2$ $occ$ between $0.625=\frac{5}{8}$ and $0.685{\approx}\frac{13}{19}$, $Pd2$ order is 2-dimensional with longest range superstructure order for $Pd2$ $occ={\approx}\frac{2}{3}$. In samples with $Pd2$ $occ>0.70$, $Pd2$ order is 3-dimensional. Sharp miscibility gap boundaries observed for stoichiometries with 1-dimensional $Pd2$ order likely result from discrete filling of $Pd2$ in a low dimensional motif that allows only a small number of microstates and therefore coarse $Pd2$ tunability. Conversely, blurred miscibility gaps observed for high $Pd2$ $occ$ can be explained by increase in microstate number afforded by higher dimension $Pd2$ order modulation that allows finer $Pd2$ tunability in this range. We hypothesize that $Pd2$ $occ$ changes within a superstructure motif allow tuning of the Fermi level, whereas dimension changes as noted above directly affect the $Pd2$-electronic bands and therefore modify the shape of the Fermi surface.\\ \indent Single crystal resistivity ($\rho$) vs temperature ($T$) measurements performed under zero magnetic field do not indicate superconductivity for single crystals with $Pd2$ $occ$ below $\frac{1}{2}$, above $Pd2$ $occ=\frac{1}{2}$, single crystals show a turning point in $\rho$ vs $T$ at temperatures ranging from 0.73K for $Pd2$ $occ=0.501\approx{\frac{1}{2}}$ to 1.14K for $Pd2$ $occ=0.587\approx{\frac{7}{12}}$, but do not reach $\rho=0$ at temperatures as low as $40mK$, further increasing $Pd2$ to $Pd2$ $occ>{\frac{7}{12}}$ single crystal $\rho$ vs $T$ curves show complete superconducting transitions. Incomplete transitions observed for samples with $\frac{1}{2}<Pd2$ $occ<{\frac{7}{12}}$ may result from sample inhomogeniety with regions of superconducting and non-superconducting stoichiometries forming within a single crystal due to close stoichiometric proximity to miscibility gap boundaries. Among complete superconductors, those with lowest $Pd2$ occ have $T_c{\approx}4K$, mid $Pd2$ occ have $T_cs$ between $4.3K$ and $5K$, and high $Pd2$ occ have $T_c{\approx}3K$ and form a dome of superconductivity in transition temperature $(T_c)$ vs $Pd2$ occupancy. Hall resistivity measurements show the dominant charge carrier type changes from hole character to electron character across the identified $Pd2={\frac{1}{2}}$ superstructure as well as within the superconducting dome going from hole to electron dominant with $Pd2<{\frac{2}{3}}$ to $Pd2>{\frac{2}{3}}$ respectively. High magnetic field orientation dependent resistivity experiments performed for single crystals spanning the range of superconducting $Pd2$ occ show highest critical field anisotropy and highest $\frac{H_{c2}}{T_c}$ ratios present in samples having lowest $Pd2$ occ and 1-dimensional $Pd2$ order. These have anisotropy ${\gamma}=\frac{H_{c2||[010]}}{H_{c2||[20{\bar{1}}]}}{\approx}4$ and ratio $\frac{H_{c2||[010]}}{T_c}{\approx}8.5$ exceeding the Pauli spin polarization limit $(\frac{H_{c2}}{T_c}=1.84{\frac{T}{K}})$ by a factor of $4.5$. For comparison, middle $Pd2$ occ single crystals with 2-dimensional $Pd2$ order have $H_{c2}$ anisotropy ${\gamma}{\approx}3.5$, and $\frac{H_{c2||[010]}}{T_c}{\approx}7$, exceeding the Pauli limit by a factor $3.7$ while highest $Pd2$ superconductors with 3-dimensional $Pd2$ order show the lowest superconducting anisotropy with ${\gamma}{\approx}2.7$, and $\frac{H_{c2||[010]}}{T_c}{\approx}4.3$ still exceeding the Pauli limit, but by a factor of only 2.4, indicating that the $Pd2$ superstructure modified $d-bands$ directly affect the superconducting state properties of $Nb_2Pd_xSe_5$. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that d-electrons of Pd2 are added to an electron pocket at the Fermi level, while Nb1 and Pd1 contribute predominantly to the hole pockets. Additionally, DFT calculations performed for the fully occupied structure with $Pd2$ $occ=1$ and for the ideal superstructure with $Pd2$ $occ=\frac{1}{2}$ indicate that the electron-like Fermi surface sheet changes from 3-dimensional for the fully occupied structure to a more 1-dimensional surface for $Pd2$ $occ=\frac{1}{2}$. In calculations, both stoichiometries result in $2-band$ Fermi surfaces that demonstrate perfect compensation of electrons with holes. We hypothesize that balance of holes and electrons exists at precise $Pd2$ $occ$ where superstructures are centered, i.e. at $Pd2$ $occ={\frac{1}{2}},{\frac{2}{3}},$ and perhaps $\frac{3}{4}$ and that increasing or decreasing $Pd2$ $occ$ within a superstructure motif allows shifting from hole-dominant conduction for $Pd2$ poor to electron-dominant for $Pd2$ rich samples. We observe highest $H_{c2}s$, $H_{c2}$ anisotropy and $T_{c}s$ approaching the miscibility boundary between 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional $Pd2$ order.
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): June 24, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Theo Siegrist, Professor Directing Dissertation; Biwu Ma, University Representative; Christianne Beekman, Committee Member; Simon Capstick, Committee Member; Peng Xiong, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Condensed matter
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Norflus_fsu_0071N_16655.pdf
TITLE: An Exploration of Discriminatory Language in Software Artifacts and Developer Communications
AUTHOR: Norflus, Matthew,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Haiduc, Sonia
MEMBER (committee member): Chakraborty, Shayok
MEMBER (committee member): Mills, Christopher
MEMBER (committee member): Wang, An-I Andy
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Computer Science
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (59 pages)
ABSTRACT: Discriminatory terminology has been identified as a potential contributing factor to low diversity in the software developer population. Terms including whitelist, slave, and dummy value have been commonplace in the technical vernacular of software developers for decades. There has been significant movement in the software industry within the last ten years to deprecate such terminology in software. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the impact and usage of discriminatory language in software development. A collection of open-source software projects were analyzed for this terminology from GitHub. Developer communications were also collected from Gitter. Questions from Stack Overflow were collected from the Stack Exchange database from a ten year period between 2010 and 2020 for the purpose of examining the trend of the terminology in question. Finally, a survey was distributed to professional software developers and computer science students to collect information on the impact this terminology may have on individual and team performance. The survey found that gender and ethnic minorities express a higher sensitivity to the identified terminology. Most demographics surveyed experienced a below average negative workplace impact within their organization due to the usage of discriminatory terminology. This experience varies by demographic, with female respondents stating a negative impact on self-esteem and Hispanic and Latinx respondents stating a negative impact on diversity. Analysis of Gitter channels and project source code found that most projects had a lower number of occurrences of the identified terminology in the source code than in the Gitter chat channels. The Stack Overflow analysis found usage of whitelist/blacklist has steadily risen in questions over the last decade, and tend to be associated with web-based technologies and Android applications. Usage of slave on Stack Overflow has steadily declined since 2016, and is highly associated with Java questions.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Computer Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Diversity, GitHub, Gitter, Open-source Software, Software Engineering, Stack Overflow
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Sonia Haiduc, Professor Directing Thesis; Shayok Chakraborty, Committee Member; Christopher Mills, Committee Member; An-I Wang, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Computer science
SUBJECT: Sociology--Research
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Odom_fsu_0071N_16593.pdf
TITLE: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis of Art Therapists' Use of Personal Art-Making
AUTHOR: Odom, Elizabeth Raye,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Gussak, David
MEMBER (committee member): Gerber, Nancy (Nancy E.)
MEMBER (committee member): Parker-Bell, Barbara Faye
MEMBER (committee member): Shields, Sara Scott
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Art Education
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (139 pages)
ABSTRACT: Art therapists have emphasized the importance of personal art-making (Allen, 1992; Arrington, 2001; Ault, 1994; Cahn, 2000; Huntoon as cited in Wix, 2000; Jones, 1983; Lachman-Chapin, et al., 1998; Malchiodi, 1999; McNiff, 2019; Moon, 2002; Phillips, 2016; Wix, 2010). This research study adopted a dialectical aesthetic intersubjective worldview (Gerber, 2016b). The study explored art therapists’ use of personal art-making to understand relationships that might exist between personal art-making practices and professional art therapy work. The study was conducted through open-ended in-depth interviews with three professional art therapists and employed a qualitative thematic analysis of the interview data. Relational theory served as a guiding principle for this qualitative, thematic analysis of art therapists’ experience of and relationship with personal art-making. Art therapists identified environmental factors, materials, the art-making process, and purposes for creating art as influential factors in their personal art-making throughout this study.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Art Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 6, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): art, art education, art therapists, art therapy, art-making, phenomenological
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): David Gussak, Professor Directing Thesis; Nancy Gerber, Committee Member; Barbara Parker-Bell, Committee Member; Sara Scott Shields, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Art--Study and teaching
SUBJECT: Counseling psychology
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Olsen_fsu_0071E_16690.pdf
TITLE: Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics of Inbreeding and Outbreeding in a Spermcasting Invertebrate
AUTHOR: Olsen, Kevin,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Levitan, Don R.
MEMBER (university representative): Beerli, Peter
MEMBER (committee member): Burgess, Scott C.
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 (74 pages)
ABSTRACT: The ecological and evolutionary factors influencing whether hermaphrodites inbreed or outbreed via self-fertilization or outcrossing has long been a theoretical and empirical focus. Recent theory predicts that the conditions favoring the evolution of self-fertilization from outcrossing should also promote tolerance of biparental inbreeding in species with separate sexes or hermaphrodites with mechanisms of self-incompatibility. Yet, there is little evidence of inbreeding tolerance, especially when individuals have the option to outbreed. We quantified biparental inbreeding in a sessile marine invertebrate (Lissoclinum verrilli) in which individuals have the potential to cast sperm over large distances to avoid inbreeding. Data from progeny arrays and paternity assignments indicate that unlike many animals, individuals tolerated mating with close kin when natal philopatry placed them nearby. Variation in biparental inbreeding and outbreeding across sites spanned nearly the complete range of possible values and resembled rates of self-fertilization and outcrossing reported in self-compatible taxa. Rather than shared ancestry, colony size and proximity determined paternal success within sites, emphasizing the importance of sperm availability and competition to reproductive success in free spawning invertebrates. Positive associations between philopatry, the relatedness among conspecifics, and biparental inbreeding across sites indicate that either individuals could not discriminate kin from non-relatives or that costs associated with avoiding inbreeding and the genetic benefits of inbreeding counterbalanced the negative effects of inbreeding depression. Our results highlight overlap in the dynamics of uni- and biparental mating systems and suggest that natal philopatry and inbreeding tolerance contribute meaningfully to the substantial variation in inbreeding and outbreeding within species of spermcasting marine invertebrates.
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): June 30, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Inbreeding, Marine Invertebrate, Outbreeding
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Don R. Levitan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Peter Beerli, University Representative; Scott C. Burgess, Committee Member; Joseph Travis, Committee Member; Alice A. Winn, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Ecology
SUBJECT: Evolution (Biology)
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Ostrander_fsu_0071N_16719.pdf
TITLE: Interior Design in Behavioral Healthcare Facilities: An Exploration of How Interior Design Elements Can Impact Patient Wellbeing
AUTHOR: Ostrander, Corrie A.,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Webber, Steven B.
MEMBER (committee member): Pable, Jill
MEMBER (committee member): Huber, Amy M.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Interior Architecture and Design
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (192 pages)
ABSTRACT: This exploratory study will identify elements of the interior environment of behavioral healthcare facilities that impact patient sense of control from the perspective of their caregivers and healthcare designers and how that impacts patients’ well-being. This study will also explore what measures can be taken to modify the built environment and make it more flexible to increase patients’ sense of control. The goals driving this study focus on contributing to the body of knowledge and research in the field of behavioral and mental healthcare design, raising awareness of the potential benefits that improved design could bring to state mental health facilities, and introducing a potential solution to improve quality of life for individuals being treated within state funded mental health facilities. Knowledge and treatment practices for mental illness have progressed and evolved throughout history, however, the field of research concerning mental health facility design is relatively new which has created a gap in knowledge about the impacts of behavioral and mental health design. Informed design has immense potential to improve wellbeing, quality of life, and treatment success for patients being treated for severe mental illnesses (Ulrich, 2001). State funded behavioral healthcare facilities are not only short of funding but are often housed in buildings that fall short from what is needed for patients’ wellbeing and successful recovery, forcing potentially fragile individuals into spaces that do not support their needs could bring more harm than good. Therapy and medical care have been evolving rapidly while the architecture and interior design of these facilities stay the same where, in some cases, patients are being “handicapped” by the design of mental health facilities (Chrysikou, 2013).
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Interior Architecture and Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 29, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Behavioral Health, Behavioral Healthcare Design, Healthcare Design, Interior Design , Mental Health, Psychiatric Facility Design
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Steven Webber, Professor Directing Thesis; Jill Pable, Committee Member; Amy Huber, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Design
SUBJECT: Mental health
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Owens_fsu_0071E_16640.pdf
TITLE: Sexual Assault among College Students: Evaluating the Severity of Suicidality among Survivors and the Moderating Role of Protective Factors
AUTHOR: Owens, Shanteria,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Becker, Martin Swanbrow
MEMBER (university representative): Joiner, Thomas, Jr.
MEMBER (committee member): Dong, Shengli
MEMBER (committee member): Paek, Insu, (Professor of measurement and statistics)
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 (136 pages)
ABSTRACT: Sexual assault among college students in the United States is a widespread societal issue, although the pervasiveness of this problem is likely unknown due to several factors. For instance, the extant literature reveals that researchers often operationalize sexual assault in a myriad of different ways which undoubtedly influences reported prevalence rates. In addition to definitional constraints, low rates of disclosure and methodological differences also impact reported prevalence. Despite these factors that influence the reported prevalence, the literature indicates that women (2%-44%) experience sexual assault at higher rates compared to males (1%-31%) (American College Health Association, 2017; Fedina, Lynn Holmes, & Backes, 2016). Moreover, it is important to note that sexual assault is associated with extensive psychological sequelae including substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and suicidality. Within the United States, suicide is a leading cause of death and prevention efforts should focus on the systematic assessment of, and treatment for, individuals with suicidal experiences. An enhanced understanding of the factors that uniquely contribute to suicidal experiences, such as sexual assault, would likely improve treatment outcomes for individuals in the trauma recovery process. This manuscript explores the relationship between sexual assault and suicidal experiences as well as protective factors that moderate this association.  The results also indicated that psychological treatment moderated the association between both unwanted sexual touching and attempted sexual intercourse against their will with suicidal ideation.
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): April 26, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Sexual assault, Suicide prevention
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Martin Swanbrow Becker, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Joiner, University Representative; Shengli Dong, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Oxley_fsu_0071E_16569.pdf
TITLE: Essays on Charitable Activity: Donor Preferences, Charity Organizational Structure, and Long-Run Impact
AUTHOR: Oxley, Jonathan,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Isaac, R. Mark (Robert Mark), 1954-
MEMBER (university representative): Großer, Jens W.
MEMBER (committee member): Kitchens, Carl T.
MEMBER (committee member): Rodgers, Luke P.
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 (182 pages)
ABSTRACT: This dissertation consists of three separate essays on various types of charitable activity. Each chapter examines incentives for charitable giving, including how charity religious affiliation impacts donations, how donors and charities respond to mandatory unrelated business income tax return disclosure, and the long-run impact of heterogeneous mission educational aid. These works advance the field by examining the motivations of altruistic behavior in terms of charity affiliations, how donors and charitable organizations respond to mandatory disclosure requirements, and the long-run impact of development aid affiliated with a religious group. In chapter one, I explore donor preferences for charity religious affiliation. In the United States, most charitable donations go to religiously affiliated organizations, yet the impact of a charity’s affiliation on donor behavior is currently unclear. To better understand this impact, I use a laboratory experiment to explore how a charity’s religious affiliation drives donor behavior. In doing so, I contribute to the understanding of how charity affiliations impact donor decisions. In the experiment, subjects select one charity from a list of eight, with each charity varying in religious affiliation. Masked and unmasked sessions differ in the inclusion of religious affiliation from half the charities, with masked sessions omitting religious affiliation of the charities. I find that adding religious language decreases donation frequency for Christian charities competing against other religious charities. Furthermore, adding religious language increases the average donation size for secular charities competing against Christian charities but decreases average donations for Christian charities competing against other religious charities. Subjects prefer charity religious affiliation to match their own religious identity; however, subject strength of religiosity is more predictive in charity choice than religious affiliation. Next, chapter two examines how charities and donors respond to mandatory disclosure. Financial disclosure requirements are common accountability measures placed on publicly funded organizations. However, the impact of financial disclosure requirements on organizational structure or on financial contributors’ behavior is not well understood in the context of non-profit organizations. I explore this question by analyzing mandatory Form 990-T disclosure included in the Pension Protection Act. This contributes to the understanding of organizational and financial contributor response to mandatory disclosure in an environment already requiring operation data disclosure. I use a difference-in-differences approach, comparing organizations filing a Form 990-T at least once in the three years prior to passage to those who did not. I find that one in four filing organizations create a subsidiary in the following two filing years. Subsidiary tax filings are not subject to disclosure, indicating that non-profits can restructure their organizations in a manner allowing them to circumvent disclosure requirements. While charities alter their organizational structure, I find no evidence of net changes in donor behavior towards charities, as aggregate total contributions and government grants received do not change. Finally, chapter three examines the long-run impacts of religious-based development charities on economic and cultural outcomes. I explore this question by using the differences in education aid by Presbyterian and Methodist missions in 20th century Korea, where Presbyterian missions established 85% of all mission schools and required conversion for attendance. Using variation in an agreement defining boundaries on Presbyterian and Methodist mission operations, I find no differences in educational attainment, household income, or Protestant affiliation across comity agreement borders when looking at the South Korean Population. However, among South Korean Protestants, I find that Protestants living in historically Presbyterian areas earn approximately 300,000 won a month more than Protestant households on the Methodist side of the comity agreement border. The difference in income is not caused by differing levels of education, as I find no difference in Protestant educational attainment across the comity agreement border in either age groups born before compulsory education or those born afterward.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): May 25, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Charity, Donor Behavior, Economics, Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Subsidiaries, Religious Charity
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): R. Mark Isaac, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jens Grosser, University Representative; Carl Kitchens, Committee Member; Luke P. Rodgers, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Economics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Oz_fsu_0071E_16714.pdf
TITLE: Investigation of the Transport and Magnetization Properties of High Jc Bi-2212 Round Wires
AUTHOR: Oz, Yavuz,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Larbalestier, D. (David)
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Chiorescu, Irinel
MEMBER (university representative): Hellstrom, Eric
MEMBER (committee member): Bonesteel, N. E.
MEMBER (committee member): Collins, David C. (David Christopher)
MEMBER (committee member): Kametani, Fumitake
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 (105 pages)
ABSTRACT: High field magnets are integral to the success of various significant scientific and technological endeavors such as materials characterization, high energy physics, and plasma fusion generators. Superconductors are integral to building high field magnets, and since their discovery Nb-Ti and Nb3Sn, both low temperature superconductors (LTS), have matured into commercially available, practical magnet conductors. Major advantages of these materials are that they can be made as isotropic multi-filamentary round wires (RW) where the superconducting filaments are bonded to a high-conductivity normal metal which provides electromagnetic and mechanical stability, as these qualities are ideal for building superconducting magnet coils. As LTS magnets are limited by NbSn’s irreversibility field H_irr(4.2K) of ~24 T, high temperature superconductors (HTSs) promise a solution to this limitation due to their high H_irr(4.2K)(4.2K) > 100\ T. However, since the discovery of HTS in 1986, constructing practical high field HTS magnets has proven difficult due to the limitations of the fundamental physics at play and the challenges of materials engineering. Three cuprate superconductors, YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-x) (YBCO), Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_(8+x) (Bi-2212) and its closely related sibling (Bi,Pb)_2Sr_2Ca_2Cu_3O_x are the most mature and promising candidates for practical high field HTS magnet superconductors. Of these three, Bi-2212 is the only high J_c (~6500 A/mm^2 at 15 T, 4.2 K), high field HTS available as a macroscopically isotropic multi-filamentary round wire. In addition to being LTS like in their macroscopic properties, Bi-2212 round wires do not seem to suffer from the limitation of weakly connected grain boundaries that the other cuprates have to compensate for. Understanding the nature of the grain boundaries that contribute significantly to transport supercurrent in Bi-2212 round wires is therefore a scientifically interesting problem. Moreover, understanding and quantifying the connectivity of the Bi-2212 RW current path is integral to improving its critical current density J_c, which would enable even higher fields. The magnetization behavior of a superconducting wire, which is related to the dissipative losses associated with changing magnetic fields, should also be well understood and optimized. This thesis details experiments characterizing the oxygen doping dependence of the transport supercurrent path connectivity in state-of-the art Bi-2212 round wires, as well as the connectivity of their induced current path introduced by magnetization and the associated hysteretic losses.
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): June 29, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Bi-2212, Connectivity, Grain boundaries, High Temperature Superconductors, Hysteretic loss, Superconductivity
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): David C. Larbalestier, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Irinel Chiorescu, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Eric E. Hellstrom, University Representative; Nicholas Bonesteel, Committee Member; David C. Collins, Committee Member; Fumitake Kametani, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Physics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Pappas_fsu_0071E_16622.pdf
TITLE: Toward a Theory of Intraorganizational Relations: Examining the Performance and Turnover Effects of Workplace Relationships
AUTHOR: Pappas, Alec Nicholas,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Bolander, Willy
MEMBER (university representative): Nyce, Charles M.
MEMBER (committee member): Brady, Michael K.
MEMBER (committee member): Harmeling, Colleen M
MEMBER (committee member): Van den Bulte, Christophe
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Business
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Marketing
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (172 pages)
ABSTRACT: Salesperson performance and turnover are outcomes of utmost importance for marketing practitioners and scholars. While much research has been conducted to determine drivers of these outcomes, I argue social dynamics within the organization, and their effect on salesperson performance and turnover, deserve much more attention than previously given. I use three essays to examine the effects of social dynamics on these outcomes. In Essay One, I perform an in-depth literature review and conceptual development detailing the theoretical mechanisms, components of social relations, and dominant theoretical paradigms of social relations within the firm. The conceptual development culminates in a Theory of Intraorganizational Relations (TIR), followed by a process model paired with propositions guiding future research. Essay One provides the theoretical framework for Essay Two and Essay Three. Essay Two is an empirical examination of the TIR where I assess social network positions, relationship dimensions, and antecedents of social network positions and their associated effects on salesperson performance. In Essay Three, I plan a data collection to explore a potential dark side of networking called turnover contagion. I present a literature review of turnover to determine areas of contribution. Next, I build on the marketing literature to provide a richer conceptualization of the contagion process and potential constructs of interest. With a more comprehensive view of the literature, I propose an intraorganizational network data collection from a sales organization. I specify areas of consideration for an optimal data collection, focal constructs to assess the contagious effects of turnover within the firm and specify the rationale for a discrete-time hazard model to study these effects. This essay has the potential to enhance practitioners’ and scholars’ understanding of an individual’s value to the firm and provide a more nuanced view of one’s turnover impact.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Marketing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 23, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Intraorganizational Networks, Networking, Performance, Social Relations, Turnover
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Willy Bolander, Professor Directing Dissertation; Charles Nyce, University Representative; Mike Brady, Committee Member; Colleen Harmeling, Committee Member; Christophe Van den Bulte, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Marketing
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Perello_fsu_0071E_16684.pdf
TITLE: Study of Low-Lying Proton Resonances in 26Si and Neutron Spectroscopic Studies with Catrina
AUTHOR: Perello Izaguirre, Jesus,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Almaraz-Calderon, Sergio J.
MEMBER (university representative): Albrecht-Schmitt, Thomas E.
MEMBER (committee member): Piekarewicz, Jorge
MEMBER (committee member): Weidenhoever, Ingo Ludwing M.
MEMBER (committee member): Yohay, Rachel
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 (120 pages)
ABSTRACT: The radioisotope 26Al has been well recognized as an important astronomical indicator of ongoing nucleosynthesis in our Galaxy due to it's unique nuclear properties. The ground-state of 26Al (26Alg) has a half-life of 700,000 yrs, which is observable via its 1.8 MeV gamma-ray line. The 25Al(p,g)26Si proton-capture reaction is critical in understanding the emission of this radioactive isotope throughout the Galaxy. The 25Al(p,g)26Si reaction plays a crucial role in redirecting the flux of nuclear material away from the 26Alg, in favor of its short-lived isomeric state 26Alm, which bypasses the gamma-ray emission but is measured in, for example, isotopic abundances of 26Mg in meteorites. Uncertainties in the 25Al(p,g)26Si reaction are dominated by the nuclear properties of low-lying proton-unbound states in 26Si, which determine the reaction rate in a range of astrophysically relevant conditions. A high-sensitivity spectroscopy study of 26Si was performed at Florida State University (FSU) using a neutron/gamma-ray (n/g) coincidence measurement of the 24Mg(3He,n/g) reaction. The experiment was carried out at the John D. Fox laboratory at FSU using the CATRiNA neutron detector system, which was developed for this project. CATRiNA is an array of 16 deuterated liquid scintillators with excellent pulse-shape-discrimination capabilities as well as a structured pulse-height spectrum that allows to perform neutron spectroscopy complementary to the traditional time-of-fight technique. States in 26Si are `tagged' by the CATRiNA neutron detectors while the subsequent g-rays are measured using the FSU HPGe Clover detectors. This thesis includes the characterization and development of CATRiNA, and the results of the 24Mg(3He,n/g)26Si reaction as well as it's astrophysical implications on the 25Al proton-capture reaction rate.
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 9, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): experimental nuclear physics, neutron detector, nuclear astrophysics, nuclear physics, radiation detection, transfer reactions
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Sergio Almaraz-Calderon, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Albrecht-Schoenzart, University Representative; Jorge Piekerawicz, Committee Member; Ingo Wiedenhoever, Committee Member; Rachel Yohay, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Physics
SUBJECT: Astrophysics
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Perron_fsu_0071N_16716.pdf
TITLE: Personality and Personalization: Informing Desk Accessory Design in the Open Office
AUTHOR: Perron, Olivia,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Webber, Steven B.
MEMBER (committee member): Ransdell, Marlo E.
MEMBER (committee member): Huber, Amy M.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Interior Architecture and Design
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (174 pages)
ABSTRACT: Employees use personalization to create identity in the workplace—it improves perceptions of control (Lee & Brand, 2005), is a positive display of territoriality (Ashkanasy, 2014), and helps establish individual identity. Despite the prevalence of workplace research in the design community, there is a lack of existing literature that address how personality, office type, and personalization choices could be influencing how the desk is used. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand what elements at an individual’s workstation are dependent on employee personality. Furniture manufacturers and design firms have historically decided what the workplace will look like and how it will function. As the open office became the primary workplace layout, it also became highly standardized, resulting in homogenous desk benching that was adapted to employee’s various preferences. Employees, regardless of status, type of physical environment, or workplace sector, will personalize their space. This desire to personalize could be a reaction to offices and desks, when analyzed as just furniture objects, not providing any insight about the individuality or personality of the person who works there (Dickel, 2011). To identify if there is a link between personality and desk personalization, this study’s methodology will survey employees across three companies. The purpose of this survey is to gather insights into the personalization preferences of individuals in the workplace; these preferences may or may not be supported by trends discovered through individual characteristics of personality. An informed design of desk accessories could improve open office desking to better meet individual personalization preferences. The goal of this thesis is to use personalization and personality data to better understand desk personalization trends and to use those trends to inform and improve the design approach to open office desks.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Interior Architecture and Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 1, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Desk Accessories , Interior Design, Personality, Personalization , Workplace
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Steven Webber, Professor Directing Thesis; Marlo Ransdell, Committee Member; Amy Huber, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Design
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Peterson_fsu_0071E_16679.pdf
TITLE: When Marketing Tactics Backfire: Unintended Consequences for Consumer Health and Well-Being
AUTHOR: Peterson, Lane,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Mende, Martin
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Scott, Maura L.
MEMBER (university representative): Hochwarter, Wayne A.
MEMBER (committee member): Nenkov, Gergana Y.
MEMBER (committee member): Thomas, Meredith
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Business
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Marketing
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (119 pages)
ABSTRACT: In two essays, this dissertation explores how marketing tactics, both in the development and marketing of technology and food, influence consumer well-being. In Chapter 2, I seek to explore the Quantified-Self phenomenon empirically. Specifically, I explore how a popular marketing tactic used to promote self-tracking devices, anthropomorphism, influences consumer evaluations of self-tracking technologies and consumer health motivation over time. In doing so, I propose a dynamic effect of anthropomorphism, such that the effects of anthropomorphization fluctuate with the use of self-tracking technologies. In Chapter 3, I explore how various marketing tactics affect consumers' food choice of large vs. small units in social settings. I first theorize how consumers’ food unit choice can differ under impression management motives, and then hypothesize how marketing tactics play a role in consumers’ selection of food units. Next, I present six studies that demonstrate that some marketing tactics can increase overall food choice and consumption because they undermine consumers’ tendency to choose less food when impression management motives are activated. Taken together, these two chapters seek to provide insights into when and why marketing (tactics) might undermine or bolster consumer well-being.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Marketing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 1, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Consumer Health, Consumer Technologies, Consumer Well-Being, Food Choice, Food Consumption , Transformative Consumer Research
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Martin Mende, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Maura L. Scott, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Wayne Hochwarter, University Representative; Gergana Y. Nenkov, Committee Member; Meredith Thomas, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Marketing
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Peterson_fsu_0071E_16782.pdf
TITLE: Migration, Habitat Use, and Predator-Prey Dynamics of Coastal Sharks in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico
AUTHOR: Peterson, Cheston,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Grubbs, R. Dean
MEMBER (university representative): Elsner, James B.
MEMBER (committee member): Inouye, Brian D.
MEMBER (committee member): Travis, Joseph, 1953-
MEMBER (committee member): Underwood, Nora C.
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 (131 pages)
ABSTRACT: Drivers of animal movement, including abiotic factors such as environmental conditions or climate and biotic factors such as species interactions and reproduction, are classic topics in ecology and relevant to both basic and applied scientific questions. Understanding phenomena such as seasonal migrations are important in fisheries management, and describing habitat use and ecological interactions is a primary goal in fisheries ecology as the field moves toward holistic, ecosystem-based approaches. Here I present the results of research investigating the drivers of movement in coastal sharks, from scales of seasonal migrations and temporal patterns of abundance to fine-scale movement of a single species as it relates to the distribution and density of its prey and predators.I used a 10 year data set of long-term fishery-independent gillnet and longline surveys to explore the effects of abiotic variables on temporal patterns of community structure of fishes and correlates of migration at two seagrass shoals off the FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory. I examined community structure using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) with environmental fitting, compared temporal community structure using permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) of monthly catch rates in both gear types, and tested for cyclicity in community structure. I also used generalized additive models (GAMs) to explore the effects of environmental variables (e.g. temperature and photoperiod) on immigration and emigration phases of dominant taxa. I found strong seasonality and cyclicity in assemblages captured by both gear types, with depauperate winter communities and diverse assemblages in warmer month - especially late summer and fall. My results suggest temperature may determine the timing of immigration and duration of the residency period of dominant taxa, including the juvenile life stages of some coastal sharks, but photoperiod may cue immigration and emigration in adults when the purpose of those migrations includes predicable reproductive functions (e.g. parturition). I found evidence of partial migration in juvenile life stages of some coastal sharks, and hypothesize that rising temperatures due to climate change may have variable effects on residency patterns over ontogeny. I conducted similar fishery-independent sampling in Apalachicola Bay from 2018 to 2020 during the summer to study habitat overlap in multiple life stages of a group of sympatric coastal sharks. I also used data shared with me by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to explore the relationship of habitat use in coastal sharks to prey distribution and density. My analyses suggested this relationship may vary among species and life stage, as predation risk or environmental tolerances may drive habitat use in early life stages of some species. Prey distribution may be more important for dietary specialists. Interestingly, habitat use of species life stages with increasing reported dietary overlap appeared to converge. Using acoustic telemetry, I described movement and habitat use of bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), bonnetheads (Sphyrna tiburo), and gafftopsail catfish (Bagre marinus) in Apalachicola Bay and St. George Sound. I used linear mixed models (LMM) to integrate the tracking information with blue crab (Calinectes sapidus) density data from the same fishery-independent surveys conducted by FWC to explore the predator-prey dynamics of blue crabs, bonnetheads, and bull sharks. All three fishes were resident throughout the summer and were philopatric. Bull sharks used more of the habitat than bonnetheads or gafftopsail catfish. Bonnetheads mainly used seagrass habitats, while gafftopsail catfish used muddy habitats around freshwater inputs. There were relationships of size and the proportion of the acoustic array each species used, with a positive correlation of size and space used in both species of sharks and a negative correlation in gafftopsail catfish, which may be driven my differences between sexes. Bonnetheads were not detected in habitats where blue crabs were most dense, but the probability of bull shark presence was highest. Results of the LMM analyses suggested a significant negative relationship of bonnethead habitat use and bull shark presence probability, as well as a significant negative relationship of the interaction of bull shark presence and salinity (bull shark presence probability was highest at sites with the lowest average salinities). These results suggest habitat use in bonnetheads may follow predictions of optimal foraging theory and the ideal free distribution under the constraint of predation risk, which may be informative in understanding the roles of predation and prey availability in the habitat use of marine mesopredators.
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 12, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): R. Dean Grubbs, Professor Directing Dissertation; James B. Elsner, University Representative; Brian D. Inouye, Committee Member; Joseph A. Travis, Committee Member; Nora Underwood, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Ecology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Pippin_fsu_0071N_16735.pdf
TITLE: How Multilingual Students Convey Their Concerns in Writing Center Encounters
AUTHOR: Pippin, Alexandra,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Domínguez Barajas, Elías, 1968-
MEMBER (committee member): Neal, Michael R.
MEMBER (committee member): Fiscus-Cannaday, Jaclyn
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 (54 pages)
ABSTRACT: Equipping writing center tutors to effectively consult with multilingual writers is becoming more and more critical because the number of multilingual students in American universities is increasing (Bromley and Northway 2018, Leki 2009). In order to best serve this population of students, it is essential for writing centers to seek a better awareness of both how multilingual students convey their concerns before the writing center session as well as how those concerns are rectified during the appointment with the tutor. This study analyzes the language used by students and tutors to describe the topics of concern that students wanted to, or did, work on during their writing center session. And, through observational analysis, this study uncovers the discursive strategies that tutors use when addressing these concerns with multilingual students. By illuminating the concerns that students attempt to articulate and that the tutors attempt to summarize, and by detailing the interactions that allow the discussions about such concerns to occur, this research hopes to provide insight into the problems that multilingual students encounter when composing and the ways that those problems are addressed in the writing center.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 12, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Elias Domínguez Barajas, Professor Directing Thesis; Michael Neal, Committee Member; Jaclyn Fiscus-Cannaday, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Rhetoric
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Qin_fsu_0071E_16676.pdf
TITLE: Two Essays on Investor Preference
AUTHOR: Qin, Lu,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Autore, Donald M.
MEMBER (university representative): Semykina, Anastasia
MEMBER (committee member): Hutton, Irena
MEMBER (committee member): Jiang, Danling
MEMBER (committee member): Liu, Baixiao
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Business
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Finance
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (73 pages)
ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores two different kinds of investor preferences for stocks: geographicpreference and skewness preference. In the first essay titled “Faster than Flying: High-Speed Rail, Investors, and Firms”, we study the effects of a direct high-speed rail (HSR) service between two cities on investors and firms in China. We find that, after the HSR introduction, investors make more crosscity searches and block purchases of firms in connected cities. The HSR introduction also leads to less comovement among local stocks and more comovement between stocks in connected cities. Firms located in more central cities in the HSR network enjoy higher firm valuation, lower cost of equity, and better liquidity, in part through the channel of increased investor recognition. The HSR effects on valuation, cost of equity, and liquidity are more pronounced among small firms and when the connected city pair distance is below 1,500 km, for which HSR is faster than flying. In the second essay titled, “Can skewness preference cause misreactions to SEO announcements?”, we report that the degree of skewness in a firm’s stock returns can influence the stock price reaction to its SEO announcement. We find that high skewness issuers are associated with higher reactions to their SEO announcements. Our results add to the literature that studies the impact of skewness preference on asset prices. Our analysis can help explain why some SEOs are received favorably by investors, despite the fact that theory suggests SEO announcements signal overvaluation and empirical studies report negative stock price reactions.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Finance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 30, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Donald M. Autore, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anastasia Semykina, University Representative; Irena Hutton, Committee Member; Danling Jiang, Committee Member; Baixiao Liu, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Business
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Ragland_fsu_0071E_16594.pdf
TITLE: Lipolytic, Hormonal, and Muscle Quality Differences of Female Endurance Athletes with Higher vs Lower Body Fat
AUTHOR: Ragland, Tristan J.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Ormsbee, Michael J.
MEMBER (university representative): Williams, Diana L.
MEMBER (committee member): Hickner, Robert C., 1962-
MEMBER (committee member): Kim, Jeong-Su
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Health and Human Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (96 pages)
ABSTRACT: IntroductionThe popularity of endurance events has grown recently with an increased number of participants who have an elevated body fat percentage. The influence of chronic endurance training on adipose tissue physiology in these recreational athletes is unknown. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of chronic endurance training on lipolytic rate and measurements of muscle quality (MQ) between two groups of female endurance athletes with two different levels of body fatness. Methods Female endurance athletes (N=14) with >8 yrs of training experience were divided based on body fat % into lower body fat (LBF; N=5, age=32.1±8.2yrs, BF%=19.4±4.7%, BMI=21.8±1.7kg/m2) or higher body fat (HBF; N=9, age=36.1±8.3 yrs, BF%=31.1±3.1%, BMI=23.9±3.2 kg/m2) groups based upon a BF cut-off of the 30th percentile. Two visits were completed: 1) anthropometrics, BF%, fitness, strength, and MQ testing. US histogram analysis and isokinetic force production of the rectus femoris were used to quantify MQ (IMF% and N-m/cm2), and 2) SCAAT lipolysis was measured 1 hr before, during cycling at ~70% VO2peak for 45 min, and after exercise for 2h. Results SCAAT lipolysis was not significantly different pre-exercise or not post-exercise (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference during exercise F(1,12) =15.01, p=.002, ƞ2=.556 (LBF=3090.6±1394.1µM, HBF=1003.2±654.3µM) between groups. There were no significant differences between groups in insulin or growth hormone (p > 0.05). There were no significant differences between groups in muscle quality with IMF% (p > 0.05). Conclusion Chronic endurance exercise training of recreational female athletes appears to alleviate the expected decrements in muscle quality due to excess adiposity among individuals in the EBF group; however, there remains a lower resting and exercise-induced lipolysis in the HBF than LBF group. Further investigations should consider possible mechanisms or lifestyle factors contributing to these observed differences
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 7, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): exercise, overweight
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Michael J. Ormsbee, Professor Directing Dissertation; Diana Williams, University Representative; Robert C. Hickner Doctoral, Committee Member; Jeong-Su Kim Doctoral, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Physiology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Rahmani_fsu_0071E_16646.pdf
TITLE: The Structure and Atomic Model of Myosin Filaments from Lethoerus Indicus Using Cryo-Electron Microscopy
AUTHOR: Rahmani, Hamidreza,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Taylor, Kenneth A.
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Bonesteel, N. E.
MEMBER (university representative): Stagg, Scott
MEMBER (committee member): Piekarewicz, Jorge
MEMBER (committee member): Van Winkle, David H.
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 (139 pages)
ABSTRACT: Cryo-electron microscopy (or cryoEM) is a rapidly expanding field with many research groups developing new methods and hardware every day. cryoEM is now on its way to replace X-ray crystallography as the method of choice to study structure. The ability to study proteins in their native environment using single-particle reconstruction and cryo-electron tomography is exclusive to cryoEM. Advances in detectors and sample preparation techniques are astonishing. The subject of this dissertation is a perfect example of the kind of work that cryoEM makes possible. Our focus is on understanding the muscle and sarcomeric proteins, and the context is an important part of the knowledge gap. Myosin filaments are several microns long, and crystallography is not an option unless we take tiny segments out of context before studying them. Myosin filaments are too large for single-particle reconstruction, and we can only resolve their structure thanks to their helical symmetry. Having a strictly followed helical symmetry helps the cryoEM study of many filamentous structures. Some recent examples are microtubules, α-synuclein, and decorated actin filaments. Myosin filaments play a central role in muscle contraction, and their atomic model can teach us a lot about muscle structure and function. Myosin heads have been the focus of structural studies, and to this day, we have only resolved the backbone structures in two species (and working on the third one). This dissertation begins with an introduction to structural biology from the point of view of a physics student. Basic ideas in biochemistry that relate to the topic are introduced before discussing cryoEM background from image formation to data analysis. We then go through muscle structure and components and finish the chapter with a brief history of the coiled-coil structure. Chapter 2 is an expanded version of the published atomic model to a myosin II coiled-coil in its native environment. We started from the existing knowledge in protein sequence, added our piece to the puzzle, and tried to provide answers to some unexplained phenomena observed in X-ray studies of muscle fibers. Chapter 3 discusses the complete atomic model for the filament, which we hope to improve and publish soon and share our hypothesis about the dynamics of myosin filaments in muscle contraction and a close look at some disease-causing mutations. This model could be the basis of many new simulations in the muscle field for computationally oriented researchers. For future work, the muscle sarcomere can be a very attractive specimen for newer tomography techniques and yield exceptionally high-resolution results in context because of the order and helical symmetry. There is also some computational work we are doing on assessing the error and uncertainty in helical parameters calculated in our field but they are not discussed in this dissertation.
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): coiled coil, cryoem, insect flight muscle, lethocerus, muscle, myosin
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Kenneth A. Taylor, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Nicholas Bonesteel, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Scott Stagg, University Representative; Jorge Piekarewicz, Committee Member; David Van Winkle, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Biophysics
SUBJECT: Biochemistry
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Redden_fsu_0071N_16722.pdf
TITLE: A Preliminary Evaluation of an Exposure-Based Treatment for Perfectionism
AUTHOR: Redden, Sarah,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Cougle, Jesse R. (Jesse Ray), 1975-
MEMBER (committee member): Ganley, Colleen M.
MEMBER (committee member): Meyer, Alexandria
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 (47 pages)
ABSTRACT: Perfectionism has important implications for self-worth, personal standards, and psychopathology. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of a novel two-week, computerized, exposure-based treatment for perfectionism (ETP). Seventy-one university students with elevated perfectionism were randomized to either the ETP group (n = 36) or the waitlist (WL) control group (n = 35). Participants began with a baseline assessment consisting of a diagnostic interview and self-report questionnaires. The ETP group was then asked to complete the intervention at home, every three days for two weeks for a total of five treatment sessions. The tasks in the ETP condition were engineered to have participants repeatedly make mistakes. All participants returned two weeks after the baseline visit for a post-treatment assessment. We found that, compared to WL, ETP led to lower overall perfectionism, concern over mistakes, depressive symptoms, eating disorder symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and error sensitivity. Additionally, ETP led to lower levels of trait anxiety in those who completed the study online but had no effect on this outcome among those who completed it in person. No effects of treatment were found on obsessive-compulsive symptoms. This study provided evidence for a short-term, computerized, exposure-based intervention for perfectionism.
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): June 23, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Exposure, Perfectionism, Randomized controlled trial
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Jesse Cougle, Professor Directing Thesis; Colleen Ganley, Committee Member; Alexandria Meyer, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Clinical psychology
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Reid_fsu_0071E_16698.pdf
TITLE: Slavery's Transgenerational Effect on White and Black Interracial Homicides in the Southern United States
AUTHOR: Reid, Jonathan,
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Hightower, Patricia Y.
MEMBER (professor co-directing dissertation): Stewart, Eric Allen
MEMBER (university representative): Jones, Maxine Deloris
MEMBER (committee member): Stults, Brian J.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Criminology and Criminal Justice
CORPORATE NAME: College of Criminology and Criminal Justice
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (114 pages)
ABSTRACT: Over the last three decades, a steady flow of research has explored the factors that explain the spatial distribution of interracial homicides in America. However, despite the many advances made in the interracial homicide literature, few studies have assessed the cultural sources of such violence. In order to address this gap in the literature, the current study examines the influence of past slavery on interracial homicide levels within the contemporary Southern United States. Drawing upon literature relating to a Southern culture of violence and the dehumanizing effects of Black enslavement, this study hypothesizes that the proportion of slaves in the population in 1860 will be positively related to contemporary White perpetrated killings of Blacks but have no relationship to Black perpetrated killings of Whites. I also hypothesize that interracial competition in the political and economic domains will increase slavery’s effect on levels of White interracial killings. The results gleaned from county-level negative binomial regression analyses are generally consistent with expectations. The measure of slavery is associated with significantly higher rates of White interracial homicide offending, but slavery demonstrates no connection to Black interracial homicide offending. Results also reveal that contextual factors related to racial competition fail to moderate slavery’s effect on White interracial killings. At a general level, findings from the current study highlight the relevance of historical context for understanding variation in contemporary levels of lethal interracial violence.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 8, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Culture, Homicide, Interracial Violence, race/ethnicity, Slavery, US South
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Patricia Y. Warren-Hightower, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Eric A. Stewart, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Maxine D. Jones, University Representative; Brian J. Stults, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Criminology
SUBJECT: Sociology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Rezkalla_fsu_0071E_16665.pdf
TITLE: Survival of the Ethicist: A Neo-Aristotelian Solution to Evolutionary Debunking Arguments
AUTHOR: Rezkalla, Paul,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Ruse, Michael
MEMBER (university representative): Kelsay, John, 1953-
MEMBER (committee member): Justus, James
MEMBER (committee member): Schwenkler, John Louis
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Philosophy
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (113 pages)
ABSTRACT: Several recent evolutionary debunking arguments have attempted to undermine moral realism. In what follows, I offer a novel, Aristotelian Naturalist response to these skeptical challenges and, in the process, I add to the growing case for Aristotelian Naturalism. I begin by disambiguating two ways to understand the evolutionary challenge to morality, namely the metaphysical and epistemic challenges. I disarm the metaphysical challenge by showing that the debunker assumes a predicative conception of goodness that we have no way of knowing whether we have “arrived at” as a result of our evolutionary history. However, if we treat goodness as attributive when speaking of creaturely goodness, then the challenge loses its teeth. I then evaluate several realist responses offered to the epistemic challenge and show they fail to salvage the realist picture. In their place I offer a Naturalist Aristotelian Structural Account to secure moral knowledge as a subspecies of the grammar of the life sciences. I rely heavily on the work of Philippa Foot and Michael Thompson to show that moral facts need not be anything more than facts about natural goodness and defect in light of the species form. Finally, I suggest that even though evolutionary debunking arguments do not succeed in undermining realism, they may help us locate morally suspect subsets of our moral beliefs. I offer a novel evolutionary debunking argument against our belief that we have special duties and obligations to kin.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 6, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Aristotelian Naturalism, Debunking, Epistemology, Ethics, Evolution, Natural Goodness
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Michael Ruse, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Kelsay, University Representative; James "Jack" Justus, Committee Member; John Schwenkler, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Philosophy
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Robertson_fsu_0071E_16631.pdf
TITLE: Coparenting and Well-Being in Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
AUTHOR: Robertson, Amy,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Grzywacz, Joseph G.
MEMBER (university representative): Hanline, Mary Frances
MEMBER (committee member): Kimmes, Jonathan G. (Jonathan Gene)
MEMBER (committee member): McWey, Lenore M.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Health and Human Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Human Development and Family Science
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (138 pages)
ABSTRACT: The practical goal of the study was to determine if coparenting is a viable target for interventions to promote well-being among parents of children with ASD and, if so, to isolate the crucial elements of coparenting. To achieve this goal, the study examined associations between coparenting and well-being in a sample of couples that were the parents of a child aged 3-17 with ASD in the U.S. using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model with dyadic data. Both members of the couple independently used an online survey on Qualtrics to independently complete self-report measures. Three research aims were explored. The first research aim was to see if actor and partner overall coparenting were associated with hedonic and eudemonic well-being. The second research aim was to determine if some dimensions of coparenting are more important to adult adjustment than other coparenting dimensions. The third research aim was to see if there were significant parent role differences in the actor and partner coparenting variables and both indicators of well-being. Overall, several dimensions of coparenting had both actor and partner effects for well-being, but these effects were mainly for fathers and mainly with eudemonic well-being. Support was found for the importance of using a dyadic data analysis strategy such as the APIM since many of the results found to support that partners’ coparenting perceptions influence both their own and sometimes their partners’ well-being. The full model analyses showed that coparenting undermining and exposure of the child to the conflict were the most critical coparenting dimensions for hedonic well-being. The full model also showed that endorsement of partner parenting, coparenting support, and coparenting closeness were the most vital dimensions for eudemonic well-being. Lastly, it was found that there were gender differences in the experience of coparenting and well-being for parents of children with ASD. The results collectively contribute to the different components of the literature, and the study provided a strong foundation for moving my research career forward in this domain.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Human Development and Family Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 8, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Autism Spectrum Disorder, Coparenting, Parents, Well-being
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Joseph G. Grzywacz, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mary F. Hanline, University Representative; Jonathan G. Kimmes, Committee Member; Lenore M. McWey, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: System theory
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Rodriguez_fsu_0071N_16745.pdf
TITLE: A Systematic Literature Review for Music Therapy and Parental Bonding with Premature Infants within a Latinx Perspective
AUTHOR: Rodriguez, Ruth Elaine,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Standley, Jayne M.
MEMBER (committee member): Geringer, John M.
MEMBER (committee member): Gooding, Lori F. (Lori Fogus)
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Arts and Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: College of Music
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (73 pages)
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze available research to identify issues affecting Latinx families' parental bonding with premature infants and to discuss how music therapy practices can be culturally sensitive to improve quality of services for Latinx families. Literature is categorized into four main categories: Latinx culture and families, caregiver and infant relationships, complications of parental bonding with premature infants for Latinx families, and music therapy for parental bonding of Latinx families with premature infants. Recommendations are given for proper music therapy practices, including an example of a music therapy session plan for a family centered care approach with cultural sensitivity.
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): July 15, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Jayne Standley, Professor Directing Thesis; John Geringer, Committee Member; Lori Gooding, Committee Member.
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: RomeroMestas_fsu_0071E_16704.pdf
TITLE: Fragmentation, Identity, and Geopolitics in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines
AUTHOR: Romero Mestas, Olga,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Gomariz, José
MEMBER (university representative): Niell, Paul B., 1976-
MEMBER (committee member): Poey, Delia
MEMBER (committee member): Galeano, Juan Carlos, 1958-
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 (144 pages)
ABSTRACT: The political, social, racial, and epistemological effects of the long-term ideologies encompassing empire, colonialism, and post-coloniality still generate conflicted discourses today. However, to understand the root of this impact, it is necessary to revisit the origins of resistance and identity within diverse cultural and environmental regions in the late colonies of the Spanish empire. This dissertation establishes these sources of interest and their effects on the cultural evolution of the imperial archipelagos. The relevance of the present work lies in the validity of these resistance mechanisms and their applications to events currently ongoing in the postcolonial context. The dissertation subscribes to the central proposition of colonial and transatlantic studies regarding the perpetuation of colonial structures after the independence and how what would become postcolonial mechanisms of domination were established and tested in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The research´s approach is also informed by an interdisciplinary focus and a comparative methodology. Ecocritical theory, regional studies, discourse analysis, and historiography shape the theoretical framework. The research addresses the mechanisms for resisting the Spanish empire in the 19th century, in the Caribbean and Philippines. While working with Caribbean and Filipino writers such as Gaspar Betancourt Cisneros, Felipe Poey, Francisco Javier Angulo Guridi, Manuel Alonso, José Felipe del Pan and José Rizal, a commonality amongst resistance mechanisms emerged. The dissertation proposes a new concept to frame these mechanisms, "regions of resistance", and elucidates how such definition may explain literary and social phenomena that transcend geographical or identity boundaries. In the first chapter, the dissertation explores how a second cultural "nature” was established atop nature, and how the environmental concern to found common laws towards all regarding natural resources was also an effective strategy to combat the predatory ethos of land domination, in the work of Betancourt Cisneros. The writers studied in this research started redefining the relationship with the land to resist plantation culture and redefine the national identity; thus, the natural regions became new forms of Motherland. The second chapter focuses on the regions of resistance found in literary work: it explores the constructs associated with colonial discourse and how it is deconstructed and restructured by the colonial subject to displace meanings in the discursive signs associated with coloniality and oppression. In Caribbean and Filipino literature, the images of the slave, the indigenous, and the peasants are transformed and manipulated as international political disturbances and economic needs in their evolution induce a change in the perception of slavery and productive forces. Another changing sign is that of “progress”. Writers reconceptualize the sign to differentiate their proposals for the sociopolitical and cultural transformation and emancipation, from the lack of such viable proposals coming from the political centers in Spain and the overseas elites. Furthermore, in the third chapter, a new region of resistance is defined: how the informal network of communication and social actions established around fraternal associations allowed the colonial subject to challenge domination. The chapter presents examples of the informal networks in the works of Heredia, Betancourt Cisneros, the Guridi brothers (Francisco y Alejandro), and José Rizal. The social relations established through secrecy-based forms of association resulted in collaboration with freemasons and members of other secret political societies in several regions, beyond borders, and these regions of resistance had a prominent role in the process of shaping a civil society committed to the independence, which involved fomenting culture, rights on educational and civic projects.
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): July 19, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Caribbean and Filipino literature, Ecocriticism, Freemasonry, Intercolonial studies, Literary discourse, Regions of resistance
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): José Gomariz, Professor Directing Dissertation; Paul Niell, University Representative; Delia Poey, Committee Member; Juan Carlos Galeano, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Latin American literature
SUBJECT: Human ecology--Study and teaching
SUBJECT: Oriental literature
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Ross_fsu_0071E_16674.pdf
TITLE: Limited Abundance: Understanding Postsecondary Choices of Low-Income, First-Generation Students in Urban, High-Density Postsecondary Markets
AUTHOR: Ross, Brittany C.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Park, Toby J.
MEMBER (university representative): Myers, John P. (John Patrick)
MEMBER (committee member): Rutledge, Stacey A.
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 (106 pages)
ABSTRACT: Low-income and first-generation college students are a well-researched student population often highlighted by their complex postsecondary participation patterns. While there is much literature that examines the college choices of these students, it is often limited to simply going or not going and not framed by any particular setting. This exploratory study went beyond this traditional definition of college choice and explored reasons for institution types selected by low-income, first-generation students who continued onto postsecondary studies within the specific geographic context of an urban setting with vast postsecondary options. To do this, a qualitative descriptive case study analysis was done using students from the urban, high-density postsecondary market of the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area to learn if and how residing in urban areas with an abundance of postsecondary options influenced the postsecondary decision making of low-income, first-generation students. Students were identified through a partnership with a local TRIO program where qualified students were interviewed after their first semester in college to learn, through their own voices, reasons for and influences on their choices. The findings of the study confirmed that low-income, first-generation students face unique challenges that reverberate throughout their educational experiences. The study showed that it is these layered and complex influences – family finances, cost of attendance, institution type, distance, lack of awareness, and family input – that impacted participant choice most and trumped their presence in an urban, high density postsecondary market. In essence, they were limited in an atmosphere of abundance by their unique circumstances.
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 Education.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 1, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): College choice, First-generation, Low-income, Postsecondary market, Urban
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Toby J. Park-Gaghan, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Myers, University Representative; Stacey Rutledge, Committee Member; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Education and state
SUBJECT: Educational sociology
SUBJECT: Educational psychology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Rossetti_fsu_0071E_16271.pdf
TITLE: Regulation of Limb Muscle Mass during Hypogonadism
AUTHOR: Rossetti, Michael L.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Gordon, Bradley S.
MEMBER (university representative): Chase, P. Bryant
MEMBER (committee member): Hickner, Robert C., 1962-
MEMBER (committee member): Salazar, Gloria
MEMBER (committee member): Ray, Chester A.
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Health and Human Sciences
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (112 pages)
ABSTRACT: Hypogonadism contributes to limb skeletal muscle atrophy by increasing rates of muscle protein breakdown. Androgen depletion increases markers of the autophagy-mediated protein breakdown pathway that persist throughout the diurnal cycle. The regulatory signals that contribute to the increase in autophagy markers remain ill defined. The purpose of Aim 1 was to characterize changes to autophagy regulatory signals in the limb skeletal muscle following androgen depletion. We hypothesized that androgen deprivation will increase signals that are known to induce the initiation and progression of the autophagy process. To do this, male mice were subjected to a castration surgery or a sham surgery to serve as a control. Seven-weeks post-surgery, a subset of mice from each group were sacrificed every 4 hrs over a 24 hr period. Protein and mRNA from the Tibialis Anterior (TA) were subjected to Western blot and RT-PCR. The phosphorylation pattern of Uncoordinated Like Kinase 1 (ULK1) (Ser555) was elevated throughout the diurnal cycle in the TA of castrated mice in a manner consistent with an overall increase in autophagy. Regulatory signals that induce activation and the progression of autophagy were also increased including an increase in the phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) (Thr183/Tyr185) and an increase in the ratio of BCL2 Associated X (BAX) to B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2). We also observed an increase in the protein expression pattern of p53 and the mRNA of p53 target genes Cyclin Dependent Kinase Inhibitor 1A (p21) and Growth Arrest and DNA Damage Alpha (Gadd45a), which are known to increase autophagy and induce muscle atrophy. These findings characterize novel changes in autophagy regulatory signals in the limb skeletal muscle following androgen deprivation. Although the factors that underlie the increase in autophagy markers in the muscle in response to androgen deprivation remain unknown, we have shown markers of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were elevated in the TA of mice following androgen depletion. These markers coincided with markers of mitochondrial degradation pathways, suggesting impaired mitochondria may be generating excess ROS. As mitochondrial derived ROS can induce muscle atrophy at least in part through autophagy activation, the purpose of the study in Aim 2 was to determine whether treatment with an antioxidant blunts preserves limb muscle mass and reduces markers of autophagy and mitophagy in response to androgen depletion. We hypothesize that an antioxidant will preserve limb muscle mass and reduce markers of autophagy and mitophagy in response to androgen deprivation. To determine this, male mice were subjected to a castration or sham surgery to serve as a control. Three days post-surgery, a subset of castrated mice remained untreated while the other castrated mice began treatment with a more general antioxidant resveratrol (RSV) or the mitochondrial specific antioxidant, MitoQ. Mice were sacrificed 8-weeks post-surgery. Treatment with MitoQ, but not RSV, partially blunted the loss of lean mass and forelimb grip strength in response to androgen deprivation. MitoQ, but not RSV, also partially preserved mass of the limb muscles. Despite this partial preservation, markers of autophagy and mitophagy were largely unaffected by antioxidant treatment. These data show that treatment with a mitochondrial targeted antioxidant can partially preserve limb muscle mass in response to androgen deprivation without altering markers of autophagy or mitophagy.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Nutrition and Integrative Physiology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 15, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Autophagy, Muscle atrophy, Protein degradation, Testosterone
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Bradley S. Gordon, Professor Directing Dissertation; P. Bryant Chase, University Representative; Robert C. Hickner, Committee Member; Gloria Salazar, Committee Member; Chester Ray, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Endocrinology
SUBJECT: Medical sciences
SUBJECT: Physiology
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Ruiz_fsu_0071N_16726.pdf
TITLE: Covid-19's Impact: Understanding and Assessing the Emergent Themes and Design Implications to Re-Design the Chain Casual Dining Restaurant
AUTHOR: Ruiz, Julia Dee,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Ransdell, Marlo E.
MEMBER (committee member): Dawkins, Jim (James D.)
MEMBER (committee member): Robinson, Kelley
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: Department of Interior Architecture and Design
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (184 pages)
ABSTRACT: Beginning in 2020, the Coronavirus disease devastated the livelihoods of billions, impacting nations across the globe. The pandemic took a toll on the health, social and economic wellbeing of individuals on an international scale. Many industries experienced economic turmoil, forcing temporary and permanent closures of businesses. The restaurant industry, on of the hardest hit, faced the unprecedented challenge of attracting and serving customers during mandated lockdowns, ultimately losing an estimated $240 billion in revenue (National Restaurant Association, 2021). Already struggling in recent years, the chain casual dining segment struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic. Insiders note that the chain casual segment does 80-90% of their business in the dining room, therefore it is imperative for brands to make changes to attract customers back into their restaurants (Taylor, 2020). The goal of this study is to enhance the dining experience through the identification of themes that have emerged in the restaurant industry as a response to the pandemic. To identify these emergent themes, the researcher conducted a web content analysis, chronologically tracking and gathering data on COVID-19’s impact on the restaurant industry and restaurant design over a ten-month period. Utilizing the literature review and original research, the author established various design solutions that support each emergent theme identified. Applications of the design solutions are found in the three hypothetical restaurants designed by the author. The restaurants design supports the emergent themes and ultimately enhances the customer dining experience in the COVID-19 era.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Interior Architecture and Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 1, 2021.
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Marlo Ransdell, Professor Directing Thesis; Jim Dawkins, Committee Member; Kelley Robinson, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Design
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Rutledge_fsu_0071E_16641.pdf
TITLE: Our Side of the Story: A Phenomenological Study of Career Development Practitioner Socialization
AUTHOR: Rutledge, Kelvin,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Cox, Bradley E.
MEMBER (university representative): Kavka, Martin
MEMBER (committee member): Jones, Tamara Bertrand
MEMBER (committee member): Schwartz, Robert 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 (150 pages)
ABSTRACT: Over the past century, career development centers across the nation have evolved from the vocational and placement centers of the 1920s towards an interdisciplinary operational model of today (Herr, 2013). The interdisciplinary model incorporates clinically certified practitioners (e.g., career counselors, social workers) with non-clinical career development to achieve organizational goals and metrics. These designations provide a different introduction, context, and points of understanding towards both career centers as organizations and the career development profession as a whole. This study explored the phenomenon of organizational socialization through a qualitative investigation of the experiences of 10 non-clinical career development practitioners. These practitioners held entry-level roles of employment in centralized career development centers across the Southeastern portion of the United States. Using a modified version of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen model of interpretative phenomenological analysis to ground the author and data analysis process (Moustakas, 1994), the study utilized questionnaires and an in-depth interview to answer the following question: how do non-clinical career development practitioners make sense of the organizational socialization experience? Based on the findings, the non-clinical career development practitioners make sense of their experiences through a self-generated process. The findings provide a contextual perspective on the experiences that can provide guidance and insight to managers and leaders of career development centers.
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 30, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): career services, organizational socialization, phenomenology
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Bradley E. Cox, Professor Directing Dissertation; Martin Kavka, University Representative; Tamara Bertrand Jones, Committee Member; Robert Schwartz, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Education, Higher
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: Rutledge_fsu_0071E_16709.pdf
TITLE: An Evaluation of Selection Criteria for Early Band Music
AUTHOR: Rutledge, Brandon E.,
MEMBER (professor directing dissertation): Kelly, Steven N.
MEMBER (university representative): Moore, Carl A.
MEMBER (committee member): Dunnigan, Patrick, 1957-
MEMBER (committee member): Fredrickson, William E.
MEMBER (committee member): Madsen, Clifford K.
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 (113 pages)
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to assess the importance of music selection criteria for middle school band directors and preservice band directors. Middle school band directors and preservice band directors (N = 101) were surveyed to discover how important each group viewed music selection criteria. Participation was limited to middle school directors whose ensembles performed grade II and III band repertoire and preservice band directors currently enrolled in music education programs. Subgroups were formed within the band directors and preservice band to determine whether changes occurred between each group. These groupings allowed the researcher to assess the differences in some areas between the importance of selection criteria for middle school band directors and preservice band directors. A total of six groups were used for comparison to determine whether significant differences existed between the importance of selection criteria for middle school band directors and preservice band directors.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 23, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): music selection criteria
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Steven N. Kelly, Professor Directing Dissertation; Christopher Moore, University Representative; D. Patrick Dunnigan, Committee Member; William Fredrickson, Committee Member; Clifford Madsen, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Music--Instruction and study
DEGREE: Doctoral
FILENAME: SachsKrook_fsu_0071N_16705.pdf
TITLE: Sport, Art, and Seductive Beauty: U.S. Pole Competitions and the Politics of Performance
AUTHOR: Sachs-Krook, Carlee,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Schwadron, Hannah
MEMBER (committee member): Atkins, Jennifer
MEMBER (committee member): Goldman, Ilana
MEMBER (committee member): Herzogenrath, Jessica Ray
CORPORATE NAME: Florida State University
CORPORATE NAME: College of Fine Arts
CORPORATE NAME: School of Dance
PUBLICATION: Tallahassee, Florida: Florida State University, 2021
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 1 online resource (118 pages)
ABSTRACT: In the early 21st century, pole dancing entered the context of formalized competitions in the US, where it is often referred to as pole. There competitors contort around poles performing dare-devilish acrobatics for judges who award medals to top scoring routines based on standardized judging criteria. Competitive pole draws together a variety of co-opted movement forms including acrobatics, gymnastics, lyrical dance, and the styles of pole dance performed in strip clubs. The national competition hosted by the United States Pole Sports Federation (USPSF) divides pole into the categories of sport, art, and classique, which it advertises as respectively emphasizing athleticism, artistry, and sensuality. In the contextual shift from strip clubs to competition stage, the USPSF negotiates competitive pole’s relationship to the equally stigmatized and fantasized profession of stripping, often making moves to disavow ties to adult entertainment. Doing so, the judging criteria of each category create distinct aesthetic hierarchies entrenched in gender, race, and class politics which competitors navigate through their routines. My thesis, which takes the form of an introduction, three chapters, and a conclusion, explores the aesthetic hierarchies constructed by the competitive pole sub-categories of pole sport, art, and classique. I aim to trace the techniques used in each category to distance pole from its ties to strip clubs while recognizing the embedded gender, race, and class politics of each category’s judging criteria that instruct the form’s parameters which fantasize the stripper as dangerous and desirable Other. I also examine how select performers tool the movement aesthetics of their respective categories so as to account for performer’s authorial agency within the form and theorize the politics their performances mobilize in the process. To do so, I conduct movement analysis of two select competition routine videos from each of the categories posted by the USPSF on their YouTube page and critically analyze select social media content created by pole practitioners. I ground my analysis in scholarship on commercial striptease, pole fitness, dancesport, and competition dance while drawing on feminist, queer, and critical race theory.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Dance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
NOTE (Date of Defense): June 29, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): art, competitive pole, pole dance, sexual self-display, sport
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.
NOTE (Advisory Committee): Hannah Schwadron, Professor Directing Thesis; Jen Atkins, Committee Member; Ilana Goldman, Committee Member; Jessica Herzogenrath, Committee Member.
SUBJECT: Dance
SUBJECT: Gender expression
SUBJECT: Gender identity
DEGREE: Masters
FILENAME: Saltzberg_fsu_0071N_16727.pdf
TITLE: Comparative Quantitative Genetics of the Pelvis in Four-Species of Rodents and the Conservation of Genetic Covariance and Correlation Structure
AUTHOR: Saltzberg, Carl J.,
MEMBER (professor directing thesis): Steppan, Scott J.
MEMBER (committee member): Beerli, Peter
MEMBER (committee member): Houle, David
MEMBER (committee member): Travis, Joseph, 1953-
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 (91 pages)
ABSTRACT: Quantitative genetics is a powerful tool for predicting phenotypic evolution on a microevolutionary scale. This predictive power primarily comes from the Lande equation (Δz̅=Gβ), a multivariate expansion of the breeder’s equation, where phenotypic change (Δz̅) is predicted from the genetic covariances (G) and selection (β). Typically restricted to generational change, evolutionary biologists have proposed that quantitative genetics could bridge micro- and macroevolutionary patterns if predictions were expanded to longer timescales. While mathematically possible, making quantitative genetic predictions across generations or species is contentiously debated, principally in assuming long-term stability of the G-matrix. Here we tested stability at a macroevolutionary timescale by conducting full-sib breeding programs in two species of sigmodontine rodents from South America, the leaf-eared mice Phyllotis xanthopygus and Phyllotis darwini and estimated the G-matrices for eight pelvic traits. To expand our phylogenetic breadth, we incorporated two additional G-matrices measured for the same traits from Kohn & Atchley’s 1988 study of the murine rodents Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus. Using a phylogenetic comparative framework and four separate metrics of matrix divergence or similarity, we found no significant association between evolutionary divergence among species G-matrices and time, supporting the assumption of stability for at least some structures. However, the phylogenetic sample size is necessarily small. We suggest that small fluctuations in covariance structure can occur rapidly, but underlying developmental regulation prevents significant divergence at macroevolutionary scales, analogous to an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck pattern. Expanded taxonomic sampling will be needed to test this suggestion.
NOTE (Submitted Note): A Thesis submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
NOTE (Date of Defense): July 2, 2021.
NOTE (Keywords): Comparative biology, covariance, mammals, phylogenetic constraint, quantitative genetics, rodents
NOTE (Bibliography Note): Includes bibliographical references.