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Emotions in Motion: The Role of Emotional Flow in Narrative Persuasion
No full textM.A.Experiencing emotional flow while reading a narrative is proposed to enhance transportation into the narrative world and increase identification with the characters within. This study (N = 402) examines how transitioning between different discrete emotions can influence self-reported emotional flow and hope. Based on appraisal theories of emotion, we examine the emotional flow effects of shifting from emotions that share more appraisal dimensions (fear and hope) and emotions that differ on multiple appraisal dimensions (anger and hope) to see if the transition from a similar emotion (fear) leads to higher levels of hope than the different emotion (anger). These emotion shift conditions are also compared to single emotion conditions (fear, anger, or hope), and to a no-narrative control condition to examine emotional flow and its effect on related constructs. Results indicate that conditions did not differ in hope, reported-emotional flow or transportation. However, identification, future engagement with similar narratives, helping behavior, and attitudes were higher among conditions utilizing single, and not shifting, emotions. Implications and future research directions are discussed.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Transitioning Through Higher Education: Mongolian Stakeholder Experiences of Post-Soviet Neoliberal Policymaking
No full textPh.D.In this dissertation, I examine the phenomenon of neoliberalism, which has dominated higher educational decision-making and the reorganization of systems in countries in post-Soviet transition over the past 30 years, from the vantage point of one uniquely positioned nation, Mongolia. It is illustrative to examine Mongolian higher education in transition, not only to learn more about what has happened in the small, landlocked nation located between political giants China and Russia, but also because the Mongolian case is one that heavily relies on educational transfer and has fully adopted free market, neoliberal ideology in the remaking of its higher education system. I traveled to the National University of Mongolia to conduct a qualitative inquiry into the changes that have occurred within the country’s tertiary education system, examining how Mongolia made the 1992 transition from a one-party polity to a capitalist democracy, and the changes to the role of the state in higher education change. I interviewed Mongolian higher education stakeholders, including students, faculty, and graduates, to discover how they characterize changes to their institutions and to the higher education public sector since the transition, specifically examining how men and women, and rural and urban students, understand the nature of the political and economic transition and the changing role of the state in higher education. The methodological framework of critical bifocality (Weis and Fine, 2012) allows for a more robust understanding of what has happened in Mongolian higher education in transition. In turn, this project has also provided a template for how to broaden the important work of Weis and Fine (2012), who are committed to using bifocals to pay, "theoretical and empirical attention to structures and lives [which] can be adjusted to varied contexts, historic moments, and accompanying institutional arrangements" (p. 174). This dissertation contributes by broadening the framework beyond adjusting to particular historic moments. The historic moments and places are actually employed to interpret and analyze lives and structures, which contributes to and extends the theoretical scope of critical bifocality. This examination of and through Mongolian higher education experiences opens up new possibilities for creating "circuits of solidarity" (Weis and Fine, 2012, p. 195), where those who are dispossessed and marginalized are able to carve out opportunities and create more equitable outcomes. I find that Mongolian higher education stakeholders were largely open to the new system, and were not widely critical of the advent of tuition fees in higher education. They discussed the benefits of the transition in terms of increased global connectivity and closely analyzed the changes to the nature of knowledge itself. Analysis of interviews with women and men students, and urban and rural students, indicated that the de- and re-traditionalization of gender is prevalent in Mongolian higher education in transition, and that rural student disparity in Mongolian higher education is both financial and social in nature. I have utilized historical context as a means of interpreting, locating, and enhancing data for analysis. When historical analysis is connected with analyses of other variables, such as gender and urbanicity (or, as I have suggested for future research on Mongolia, socio-economic status), critical bifocality is enhanced as a means of understanding how structures produce lives at the same time that lives produce, reproduce, and contest social and economic structures.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Development of Photoacoustic Technologies for Breast Cancer Imaging
No full textPh.D.Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. In order to improve survival rates, early detection is very important. However, current imaging techniques that are commonly used for breast cancer screening have certain limitations. For instance, women with dense breasts are at a higher risk for breast cancer, however, mammograms have decreased sensitivity to dense breast tissue. Also, with the exposure to ionizing radiation and compression of breasts between metal plates, this procedure causes a lot of discomfort to the patient. While ultrasound is patient-friendly and has better sensitivity than a mammogram for dense breasts, it is prone to false positives and is heavily operator dependent. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has good sensitivity and specificity for dense breasts. However, it is an expensive procedure and also requires an injection of Gadolinium as a contrast agent. In certain cases, this can lead to an allergic reaction, renal failure, or deposition in the central nervous system. To overcome the limitations mentioned above and to improve sensitivity for patients with dense breasts, we have built an imaging system based on photoacoustics. This system combines optical contrasts with acoustic detection, and thus obtains a snapshot of the angiographic features in human breast. Using near infrared light (NIR) for excitation, hemoglobin as endogenous contrast, and dual transducer geometry, we are able to visualize through 7 cm of breast tissue, a first in this field. Our system offers high spatial resolution, fast imaging capability, and convenient correlation with all existing imaging modalities along with better sensitivity towards dense breast tissue. There are five chapters in this dissertation. First, Chapter 1 introduces the concept of photoacoustics briefly and gives a comprehensive overview of existing PA-based breast imaging systems. Next, Chapter 2 describes the development of our Dual Scan Mammoscope and its imaging results. Then, Chapter 3 gives an overview of our clinical testing at Windsong Radiology and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and summarizes the results obtained from breast cancer patients. After that, Chapter 4 describes deep-tissue photoacoustic imaging with contrast agents. Finally, Chapter 5 presents the conclusion and future direction for this work.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Development of a Psychophysiological Artificial Neural Network to Measure Science Literacy
No full textPh.D.The rapid development of other nations' science and technology makes it more difficult to stay competitive internationally without concentrating on how science is taught in US classes. Representative competence, the capacity to generate, transform, interpret and clarify representations, is the primary obstacle to visual literacy in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and although the relationship between the fundamental visual literacy and domain-specific science literacy is known, how visual science literacy is achieved through science learning is still not fully understood. In order to improve student representational competence skills, the hierarchy of component visualization skills required to interpret these science representations needs to be identified in order to evaluate an individual's level of visual science literacy and to provide the resources to enable the individual to reach the next literacy level. This involves the construction of instruments capable of assessing visual science literacy as well as a Rasch analysis to rank complexities of science visuals. This research investigates modern methods of assessing visual science literacy with a focus on using artificial neural networks (ANN) to analyze neurocognitive measurements captured during science content related tasks and requiring varying predictable levels of visual science literacy. The method of developing this machine learning tool will be detailed by investigating the ANN, successfully made using the Gradient Boosted Trees algorithm to analyze functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIR) data. With an autonomic, neurocognitive, and quantitative scientific literacy assessment, educators and curriculum designers will have the ability to create more targeted classroom resources to enhance the visual and spatial cognitive processes behind visual science literacy.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
The War Within: The Lives and Post-War Experiences of Black Veterans in the United States during World War I and Vietnam
No full textM.A.Systematically, the United States was never a nation built for the prosperity of anybody but white American men. However, when specifically looking at the military today and the issues that surround how Veterans are treated, mainstream media and even the government as a whole do not hesitate to shine a honorary light on the men and women who are brave enough to protect our country and the benefits they deserve; yet turn a blind eye on several instances of discrimination and injustice that still exist exclusively against minority military members. A prime contemporary example of this would be the exploited outrage of those against civilians who decided to kneel during the pledge of allegiance as a purpose of protesting racial inequality and police brutality within the United States. As time carried on, the focus of this protest initially ended up shifting from its main purpose of protest being about social inequality in the United States to being interpreted as a blatant and spiteful form of disrespect targeting the nation's Veteran community. Nonetheless the intersectionality of the two issues relate directly for many who fall under the circumstances of both. This piece serves the purpose of addressing the racial differences that continue to exist within our nation's military, specifically for our African American Veteran community with questions of interest surrounding the inequitable treatment of black veterans and how it contributes to an undying system of oppression within the black community. Black Veterans in particular were targeted following their return from war because they displayed a level of strength and courage as soldiers and this was deemed a huge threat to sustaining the Jim Crow Era. As a result, black veterans faced several instances of physical abuse and even death by the hands of white Americans in an effort to maintain social superiority against the black community domestically within the nation. Following the end of the Civil War, the African American community faced acts of violence from white Americans who were unwilling to accept the impending end of slavery and racial subordination. Decades of rising violent lynch mobs and acts of terror were carried out by white supremacists in an attempt to sustain the racial hierarchy in America. This research will make a point to call out the hypocrisies of the United States as it engages in various instances of international warfare in an attempt to combat fascism, racism and dictatorships abroad all while domestically condoning the lack of democracy that existed against minority communities within their own boarders. Also, the documentation of these instances were crucial to understanding the incongruity of the nation's idea of freedom and democracy while turning a blind eye to the violence and atrocities faced by the minority communities within. By including direct research and quotes documented by black veterans who narrated their experiences abroad while in the militay, it became prevalent that they were still treated as inhumane as they are within their homeland (being the United States). This is particularly important because it is just one of the instances that highlights the social injustices that are faced in the United States against minority communities regardless of occupation and social contributions to the nation as a whole. A common myth regarding black veterans who serve in the nation's military is the notion that their service would earn them enough honor and respect to improve the social circumstances that surrounded them prior. There is the ideology of black inferiority that is deeply rooted in everything surrounding the structure of the United States, regardless of service or occupation; so the belief that allying themselves with white Americans to battle abroad only led to disappointment. Furthermore, there was a growing fear of whites against black veterans asserting themselves towards equality, which was a threat to white supremacy, and the racialized economic order established during this time.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Lost and Found on the Frontier: Modeling Forts and Landscape in Scythia Minor (4th-7th centuries A.D.)
No full textPh.D.The province of Scythia Minor served as one of the most important frontier regions during the late Roman period, defending the last stretch of the lower Danube against the external invasions of the Goths, Huns, Slavs and other northern civilizations. Thus, the frontier installations that served as the main bases of military operations in this region must have placed with considerable care and forethought to provide a strategic arrangement against any incoming forces. Through modelling and statistical analysis, this dissertation explores the spatial factors that went into the placement of frontier forts between the 4th and 7th centuries and reveals how many of these parameters remained significant throughout the period of Late Antiquity.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Few-Shot Feature Space Learning for Congenital Retinal Diseases Recognition
No full textM.S.The goal of this project is to recognize a rare congenital retinal disease, Hereditary Macular Degeneration, based on Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images, whose main manifestation is the confusion and adhesion of the layers of the retina. The challenge of using machine learning models to recognize rare diseases comes from the limited number of collected data. To address this problem, we propose to learn a discriminative feature space for the OCT images, on which many classifiers can be applied for various tasks. We formulate this problem as a few-shot learning task as only very limited samples are available. The Siamese training strategy with the triplet loss is employed to maximize the inter-class distance and minimize the intra-class distance. OCT images also have large variations due to different capturing devices and angles. To alleviate such effect, a pipeline of preprocessing is first utilized for image alignment. Tissue images at different angles can be roughly corrected to a horizontal state for better feature representation. There are 58 samples collected in our dataset and half of them are diseased. Extensive experiments on our dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Proximity Differences of Maxillary Posterior Root Apices to the Maxillary Sinus Floor According to Different Skeletal Patterns: A Retrospective CBCT Study
No full textM.S.Objectives: To evaluate the proximity of maxillary posterior root apices to the floor of maxillary sinus in Caucasian adults with different skeletal patterns using cone beam computer tomography (CBCT) images. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional CBCT study was conducted on 90 Caucasian adults, 30 in each group of normodivergent, hyperdivergent, and hypodivergent skeletal patterns. CBCT images were obtained from one private practice in Rochester, NY. The study included Caucasian male and female adults (ages 18 years and older) with pre-treatment CBCT records of adequate quality and showing a complete maxillary sinus. Dolphin Imaging software was used to measure the distances between maxillary posterior root apices to the maxillary sinus floor. Measurements were compared based on patient age (18-36 vs 37-56 years) and gender using the Mann-Whitney U test, and the 3 FMA, ANB, PP-FH, U6-PP, and gonial angle groups using Kruskall-Wallis followed by post hoc Mann-Whitney U two sample tests. Results: Comparing age groups, there were no statistically significant differences regarding proximity or perforation of the maxillary root apices into the sinus floor (p > 0.05). There were statistically significant differences in distances among adults with different skeletal vertical patterns (p < 0.05), with hyperdivergent subjects showing more protrusion or proximity of maxillary posterior root apices to the sinus floor, followed by normodivergent, and then hypodivergent patients. The large gonial angle group had significantly more root proximity or protrusion (p < 0.05) than did the normal and small gonial angle groups. The mesiobuccal root apices of the maxillary second molars were closest or more protruded into the inferior border of maxillary sinus, while the root apices of maxillary premolars and the palatal roots of maxillary molars were farthest or least protruded into the sinus floor. Conclusion: Although no statistical significance was found, there was a tendency for younger adults to have closer proximity or perforation of their maxillary root apices into the sinus floor than did the older age group. Adults with hyperdivergent skeletal patterns and large gonial angle exhibited a significantly greater proximity or protrusion of maxillary posterior root apices to the floor of maxillary sinus. There were differences in proximity of maxillary posterior root apices to the sinus floor, with the mesiobuccal root apices of the maxillary second molars showing the highest proximity or protrusion. Key words: Posterior root apices; Maxillary sinus floor; cone-beam computed tomography; skeletal pattern.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
A System to Maximize Data-Transfer Throughput Using Simulation
No full textM.S.Across the globe, data on the scale of petabytes is generated every day. This data has to be moved around the distributed clusters across the globe for availability, access, and analysis. Sharing and transferring this data between the nodes is a difficult task as the source and destination nodes might not support the same protocol. Furthermore, many protocols do not make the full utilization of the available bandwidth leading to slower transfers. Online tools for transferring data between different protocols exist. However, these tools do not make full utilization of the bandwidth available between the nodes. OneDataShare is an open-source managed file transfer system project that aims to provide fast data transfers between different protocols with the tuning of application-level parameters. In this dissertation, the implementation details for the cloud-based managed file transfer system are discussed. Also, a file transfer simulator is proposed that can be used in conjunction with the file transfer system for providing dynamic throughput optimization of file transfers.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*
Increase in Northern Arctic Moisture in Winter Precipitation on Southwestern Greenland Through the Holocene
No full textM.S.Areas of high latitude, such as Greenland, are expected to experience some of the most dramatic changes in climate during this century. Future projections describe an increase in precipitation in the Arctic, from both increased moisture transport from lower latitudes, and an increase in local evaporation. However, limited modern observational data, especially for precipitation, makes modeling future climate for this region difficult. Climate change during warm periods, such as the mid-Holocene can provide an analog for future changes. Here, we reconstruct precipitation seasonality from 10 ka to present in southwestern Greenland by analyzing the stable hydrogen isotopes of leaf waxes (δ2Hwax) within sediment cores from Lake Marshall (64.463°N, 49.431°W) and Bullet Lake (63.9816°N, 49.5365°W). These two lakes are both through-flowing, but have contrasting residence times, meaning that aquatic plant δ2Hwax measured in Lake Marshall reflects mean annual precipitation δ2H, and aquatic plant δ2Hwax measured in Bullet Lake reflects summer precipitation δ2H. We find a nearly a 100‰ decrease in the δ2H value of C22 n-alkanoic acids, derived from aquatic plants, in Lake Marshall between 7 and 4 ka and remains 2H-depleted thereafter, whereas C22 n-alkanoic acids in Bullet Lake remain constant throughout the Holocene. We interpret the 2H-depletion in Lake Marshall to indicate a change in winter precipitation source caused by the retreat of winter sea ice northward out of Baffin Bay and the Canadian Archipelago, which would have caused an increase in winter evaporation from these ice-free seas and an increase in moisture from farther north carried to southwestern Greenland. The relatively constant δ2H of C22 n-alkanoic acids in Bullet Lake suggests no major change in summer moisture sources during the Holocene. We infer changes in summer relative humidity by comparing C22 and C28 n-alkanoic acids in Bullet Lake, periods of inferred low and high humidity at Bullet Lake are consistent with other humidity and precipitation records in western Greenland. The reconstruction of moisture history of this region will allow for better predictions of changes to precipitation patterns caused by future warming.**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact [email protected]. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.*