UBIR Repository (Univ. at Buffalo)
Not a member yet
5736 research outputs found
Sort by
Rethinking Lynch: The Role of Mobile Technology in Urban Exploration
M.Arch.This study examines Kevin Lynch's idea for how observers create a cognitive map of their urban environment, with the additional use of mobile technology. In 1960, Lynch interviewed residents of three cities about their daily commute and drew a map of what they described. As a result, he identified five formal concepts as: landmarks, paths, edges, nodes, and districts. Lynch's ideas are still widely addressed in many universities and publications as an essential theory of composing and understanding urban form. However, with today's advances in technology people navigate the urban landscape in very different ways than they did in 1960. These technological advances include mobile device applications where people can interact with one another and their city via a digital interface. Therefore, it is my intention to reexamine his concepts by way of considering observers' interaction with mobile technology. The thesis will look at the effect of mobile technology applications on an observer’s perception of space. It will examine how observers use their mobile devices to help recall past experiences in an urban plaza and will identify what elements they discovered. The methods will first include asking students to draw maps from memory, followed by an online survey. The information obtained through these information gathering methods will primarily be examined qualitatively by the use of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). The results of the analysis will provide important information for how people currently interact with public urban space, and the role that mobile technology plays in the interaction.**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.*
Fashioning Feminine Activism: The Instrumental Rhetoric of Ida B. Wells and Elizabeth Cady Stanton
M.A.Ida B. Wells and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were both prominent activists of the nineteenth century. Each perfected the subtle art of reading her audience and responding according to its needs. Each adapted her message to suit the temperature of the moment, in service of a more lasting mission. And each conformed to and contested rules about femininity, depending on what the situation demanded, in order to have a place in public discourse. Together, these two activists show competing versions of women observing the needs and values of their audience, knowing the effect the smallest of their actions would have on that audience, and changing their behavior accordingly.**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.*
Identification of Novel Prognostic Biomarkers in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Ph.D.The research in this dissertation demonstrates that, in a larger study adjusting for clinical covariates, circulating, immunophenotypically defined M-MDSCs may be an independent prognostic biomarker for EOC. Identifying this association in the peripheral blood of EOC patients offers a non-invasive biomarker that is more applicable to a broader patient population. As such, future research should be conducted to understand the value of clinical utilization of M-MDSCs in predicting patient outcomes and treatment planning for EOC. Existing literature in murine models has demonstrated the potential to reduce MDSCs through pharmacological interventions as well as lifestyle interventions such as physical activity interventions, suggesting that intervening with exercise therapy may improve immune profiles. Continuing to explore the relationships between MDSCs in EOC survival, as well as other lifestyle characteristics in humans that may influence MDSC populations in EOC may demonstrate ideal interventions to target this cell population to improve survival. Additionally, the research performed in this dissertation provides a starting point for examining IRF8 expression in EOC prognosis. Our results demonstrate no association between protein expression of IRF8 and EOC mortality, but reduced risk of dying among EOC patients with high mRNA expression of IRF8. Additional studies on IRF8 in EOC prognosis are necessary to identify the ideal methods for measuring IRF8 expression in this malignancy, as well as further confirming any potential prognostic value. IRF8 is a particularly interesting target for potential intervention given existing studies in model systems with low myeloid IRF8 expression, treated with targeted therapy such as interferon-γ that suggest IRF8 expression can be increased through such therapies, which can subsequently reduce MDSC populations upon re-expression. Future studies examining methodology for measuring IRF8 will allow the field to move forward with this potential biomarker in future research and clinical care for EOC.**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.*
Nasal/Oral Automatic Sampling System in Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery
M.Eng.Capnography is a sensitive method to monitor end-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) for a patient who is under general anesthesia. It can monitor a patient's ventilation during sedation accurately. However, in the oral and maxillofacial surgery, the patients must open their mouth. The capnography reading will be unreliable if the patient is a mouth breather since there is no cannula from the mouth. Potentially life-threatening, for example, hypoxia, for a patient will occur. The surgeon will not be able to notice immediately since the pulse oximetry (SpO2) can only measure arterial oxygen saturation instead of alveolar ventilation. Regarding to this problem, a new device/setup is conducted under the guidance of Dr. Chen and Dr. Au. This new design includes an Arduino board, two solenoid valves, two LED lights, one potentiometer, one four-digit seven-segment display, one four-position rotary switch, and three-way connector. This setup can automatically sample exhale gas from nose and mouth. Two different color LED lights indicate two cannula status, and two valves are used to close and open cannulas. Two cannulas connect to the capnography by a three-way connector. A potentiometer can change the rate of two valves close and open, and the rate value will show on the seven-segment display. The four-position rotary switch has three status – automatic, nasal cannula open, oral cannula open. Based on several experiments on capnography, it shows that the alarm will not be active within one sweep of the capnography's oscilloscope screen time, therefore, if the valve open and close delay time is the sweep screen time, capnography can have accurate EtCO2 value and the dentist can determine whether this patient is mouth or nose breather. The rotary switch can be used to change the status depends on the surgeon. More specific procedures will introduce in the following contents.**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 Problem with the Popularity of Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults
M.A.The last twenty years have seen an explosion in the popularity of dystopian literature among young adult (YA) audiences. But why does this particular genre resonate so with younger readers? What is it about a post-apocalyptic environment where a courageous rebel rises up to challenge the authority of the state apparatus that this demographic finds so appealing? Are there specific real-world events that led to this surge in popularity, or does this plotline hold appeal for other reasons? Authors are inspired by events they experience in their daily lives when they are writing, and the authors of dystopian fiction are no exception. Do these same events inspire their readers to connect with their works as well? And finally, is this popularity something to be celebrated or concerned about?**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.*
Effect of Moisture on Adsorption of Carbon Disulfide (CS₂) Using Polymeric Materials
M.S.CS2 is an industrial gas used primarily in manufacturing processes. In addition to being directly harmful for human health, CS2 is an extremely flammable gas (flash point: -30 °C) that causes fire hazards. Existing and popular control technologies, other than adsorption, are unable to provide an opportunity for recovery of this expensive industrial gas. On the other hand, physical adsorption using activated carbon (AC) allows for CS2 recovery, but the adsorption capacity of AC can be reduced by 60-80%, depending on the surface area and chemical composition of the AC, when moisture is present in the gas stream. Adsorption of industrial gases using porous polymers is gaining popularity because polymers can readily be tailored for their intended use, whether it be through physical or chemical modifications. This is achieved by altering the monomers used to prepare the final polymeric structures. In this work, polymers with varying surface area (from as high as 1340 to as low as 240 m2/g) and hydrophobicity (from extremely hydrophobic to hydrophilic) are investigated as CS2 adsorbents in dry and wet gas streams. The polymer with the highest specific surface area (1340 m2/g), commercial Dowex Optipore V493, shows the longest breakthrough time of 361.37 min when the 1000 ppmv CS2 gas stream is dry. Its breakthrough time, however, decreases by 10.44% when moisture nearly saturates the gas stream. A moderately porous polymer with less specific surface area (810 m2/g), commercial Amberlite XAD4, has a breakthrough time of 93.17 min in dry conditions and is almost unaffected by the added moisture, showing only 0.72% decrease in breakthrough time when wet conditions are applied. The results suggest a dependence on physical properties for determining CS2 adsorption capacity in dry conditions. However chemical properties control performance when moisture is added due to competitive water adsorption. The most hydrophilic polymer considered in this study, commercial Amberlite XAD7, shows a 53.89% reduction in breakthrough time in the high moisture content conditions. These results can be used in industry for CS2 separation and, possibly, recovery when there is moisture present in the gas stream.**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.*
Effects of Child Abuse Prevention and School Climate on Teachers' Reporting Competencies
Ph.D.The current study evaluated the effectiveness of the Second Step Child Protection Unit (CPU; Committee for Children, 2014) on increasing teachers' knowledge and attitudes toward responding and reporting child abuse. Additionally, as studies identify school climate as an influential component in all aspects of school-based interventions (Jaycox et al., 2006), this study evaluated the role of school climate in intervention effectiveness. The sample consisted of 162 (151 females (93.2%), 10 males (6.2%), 1 Other (0.6%)) school teachers participating in a randomized controlled study evaluating the overall effectiveness of the CPU curriculum. The CPU utilizes a comprehensive approach to child abuse prevention by providing online training for administrators, staff, teachers, and students. Teachers in the intervention schools completed the online training component in September 2017. After completing the online training modules, teachers implemented the 6-lesson student curriculum in their classroom over a period of 8-10 weeks. To assess teachers' reporting competencies, the Educators and Child Abuse Questionnaire (ECAQ; Kenny, 2001) and the Teacher Reporting Attitudes Scale-Child Sexual Abuse (TRAS-CSA; Walsh et al. 2010; 2012) were utilized. School climate was assessed using the Delaware School Climate Survey (DSCS-T/S; Bear et al., 2014). All teachers' completed the measures at 3 time-points (pre-test, post-test, 6-month follow-up). Latent variable structural equation modeling was utilized to assess target outcomes. Results indicated that the CPU curriculum and educator training significantly improved teachers' reporting competencies in terms of awareness of child abuse indicators, attitudes toward reporting, and commitment to their role as mandated reporters at 6-month follow up, compared to the wait-list control group. Additionally, there was significant indirect effect of school climate at post-test in terms of student, teacher, staff and family relationships; school policies; and overall perceptions of safety on teachers' reporting competencies at 6-month follow up. These findings add to the literature on child abuse prevention by indicating that a comprehensive child safety intervention is not only effective for improving targeted outcomes, but also for improving overall perceptions of school climate.**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.*
Multiple Play Signals in Captive Immature Western Lowland Gorillas
Ph.D.Play is one of the most complex forms of interaction among social animals. It is often notoriously fast moving, flexible and variable in form and temporal sequence, incorporating movements that are seen in other more serious contexts (e.g. predatory or agonistic). As such, it is essential that players are able to convey playful intentions through signals to avoid negative responses from others (e.g., fearful, aggressive). Although the play face is the most common and well-established play signal in nonhuman primates that functions to invite play and convey a playful intent, recent evidence indicates that some species display repertoires of play signals that may have more specific meanings related to specific aspects of play. Gorillas have a particularly large repertoire of gestural and body signals, many of which are seen within the play context. However, no systematic study has been done differentiating such signals from actual social play and similar signals seen in other contexts. Furthermore, a large play signal repertoire raises questions regarding their use; do they all communicate merely a playful intent and play initiation, or do certain signals perhaps contain more specific information? Likewise, while many studies have compared the repertoires and/or usage of great ape gestures across study groups, no such study has been done comparing the play signals of gorillas and their use across multiple groups. Such information could have implications for the debated topic of signal acquisition in great apes. My dissertation study therefore aims to examine the play signals and their specific usage beyond simply being employed in the play context to shed light on why such a large repertoire exists and compare such signals across captive groups. Specifically, my dissertation consists of three aims: to 1) identify gestural signals in addition to the play face in captive immature gorillas living in four zoos, 2) test whether certain play signals function to initiate particular types of play and 3) explore the variation within and between groups in signal use. The findings have the potential to greatly expand our understanding of the nature, flexibility and specificity of gestural communication in gorillas and possibly the method of play signal acquisition in gorillas. Data were collected from four zoos during the summers of 2015 (Buffalo Zoo), 2017 (Lincoln Park and Brookfield Zoos (Chicago)) and 2018 (Cincinnati Zoo). Using all-occurrences sampling, I observed and videotaped 800 hours (200 per zoo) of play behavior and signaling of 9 female and 1 male immature captive gorillas (ages 2-5)...**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.*
Spaces of Violence: Literature, Silence and Memory in Argentina
Ph.D.Este proyecto nace con la intención de responder las preguntas de ¿cómo los espacios cerrados, privados, y aislados llegan a contribuir al silenciamiento de la memoria argentina? y ¿qué historias ocurrieron ahí que con su ausencia se manifiestan presentes en la actualidad? Será que nunca nos enteraremos de la historia verdad, y la grieta de varias hipótesis quedará abierta por siempre. Sin embargo, desde algunos espacios y las pruebas que brindan estos, podemos repensar las historias que por un lado revelan y por otro, pierden las pistas. Este trabajo examina cómo se enfrenta la población argentina con el olvido y el silencio de la memoria por la represión política a través de la literatura. Re-organización del silencio se ve en las novelas argentinas escritas a través de las tres épocas sociopolíticamente diferentes y tres espacios literarios distintos: lo fantástico durante la Década Infame, literatura durante el Proceso de Organización Nacional, y lo escrito posdictadura en el país bajo el estado democrático. El silenciamiento es un proceso impuesto por el poder soberano con la idea de establecer una autoridad estatal corrupta y selectiva, lo cual propone a la formación democrática Argentina explorar el olvido y el silencio voluntario e involuntario de los ciudadanos argentinos para recordar lo que el terrorismo estatal totalitario tuvo la intención de suprimir y anular. En este trabajo se juntan los hechos e ideas decibles y no-decibles en los momentos del silenciamiento sociopolítico, tanto como la presencia del pasado ausente en la actualidad, siendo esto el hilo conductor entre los tres capítulos. Con este análisis se desafía el presente de América Latina en el intento de acercarse al pasado a través de los espacios, testigos, pruebas, exiliados, e hijos restituidos de la generación desaparecida. Los silencios que se analizan en las obras literarias de esta tesis equivalen a la ausencia de la historia, los cuerpos de los desaparecidos, la voz de la mujer, tanto como los espacios de torturas vacantes de pruebas, y otros vacíos en la historia.Capítulo uno presenta una lectura detallada del libro de Adolfo Bioy Casares La invención de Morel (1940), que establece las definiciones de las nociones del silenciamiento y el silencio bajo las circunstancias del poder soberano para el contexto histórico de la Guerra Sucia Argentina que se discute en el capítulo dos y tres. El análisis del libro de Bioy interroga cómo el silenciamiento enmarca la identidad nacional del hombre procesado y exiliado. El capítulo dos examina dos novelas de Marta Traba Conversación al sur (1981) y En cualquier lugar (1984). Ella las escribe utilizando el cuerpo femenino como un objeto que reflexiona el abuso de los derechos humanos por parte del régimen militar. Sus novelas meditan en el poder soberano abusivo que desaparece y expulsa las personas en contra de su ideología. La invasión del espacio privado que habitan las mujeres de esta novela, como es una casa, demuestra el abuso total de los derechos humanos por parte de la dictadura. La desprotección en Conversación al sur evoca el silenciamiento y destrucción de la memoria, mientras En cualquier lugar se enfoca en una comunidad fragmentada, expulsada y exiliada, sin país, en un espacio límbico sin nacionalidad, sin derechos, y sin futuro. El capítulo tres lee las novelas de Laura Alcoba, La casa de los conejos (2007), y A veinte años, Luz (1999) de Elsa Osorio. Uso el concepto de la heterotopía como el instrumento de analizar los espacios arquitectónico que transmiten un mensaje público en cuanto a los desaparecidos durante el régimen dictatorial, y discuto zonas del silencio que aportan a la reescritura de la historia. Además, estas novelas incorporan el pasado a través de los ojos de unas niñas que vivieron la época de la guerra sucia, una de muy cerca y otra de lejos. Ellas son las evidencias vivas de la historia dictatorial argentina, recordando e investigando el pasado con el intento de promover el derecho a la memoria y el Nunca Más.**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.*
Change Came to Turtle Island
Ph.D.This study addresses questions of Haudenosaunee change through time. It explores these questions within a broad spectrum of contexts and examines a range of distinctions between changes initiated, advanced, embraced, resisted, and refused by the Haudenosaunee, including those that were imposed upon them effecting their sovereignty and way of life. I argue that any analysis of historic change involving the Haudenosaunee requires an in-depth understanding of who Haudenosaunee people are and the continuity of their groundedness in their philosophy and belief system. Although focused largely on the historic era of 1750 to 1850, this study emphasizes the understanding of a distinct Haudenosaunee historical consciousness and oral tradition as key to historical analysis, including ancient Haudenosaunee cultural history, as well as the emphasis the Haudenosaunee place on the coming faces of the future. This study aims to provide an analysis of Haudenosaunee change that centers Haudenosaunee knowledge and worldview, while accounting for the enduring effects of colonialism on Haudenosaunee experience. This study illuminates how Haudenosaunee Chiefs, Clan Mothers, Titleholders and their communities endured the encroachment of people from across the big waters who wanted to transform them. It clarifies important distinctions between Haudenosaunee legal orders that protected their traditions and their sovereignty, and the Euro-American laws imposed on the people of Turtle Island. It provides an examination of why the Haudenosaunee had to fight for their inherent rights and sovereignty in the context of a way of life that was not honored by the invasive settlers on Turtle Island.**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.*