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Design and Control of EMG Supported Pneumatic Actuated Balance Board
No full textDefecits in motor control are common in individuals with chronic low back pain. However, traditional methods of measuring deficient motor control rely on intrinsically generated movements which may limit the generalizability of the findings. This project aims at addressing this limitation by adapting a novel pneumatic balance board to accommodate a seated individual to specifically test for responses of the lumbopelvic musculature to externally generated forces. This novel method of measuring motor control will give us key insights on how individuals with chronic low back pain adapt to their environment and overcome external perturbations. The first major aim of our study is to adapt our previously eveloped balance board from one which accepts only standing individuals to one which will accommodate individuals in seating (thus eliminating the proprioceptive and balance influences of the hips, knees, and ankles). Next, we plan on validating our board against a gold-standard laser measurement system. Finally, for our third aim we will perform a small case series on asymptomatic individuals in order to assess the differences in motor control between a static balance system and our dynamic balance board. The results from this study will provide pilot data to apply for larger, extramural grants to assess the changes in motor control in individuals with chronic low back pain during the performance of dynamic sitting tasks
Wood Thrush Migratory Connectivity Using Motus Tracking Stations
Get PDFThe Motus wildlife tracking system has revolutionized the study of animal movements. Using this system, I will be looking at the migratory connectivity of Wood Thrushes, a species in decline, to aid in its conservation and managemen
African spirituality as female empowerment in the works of Yvonne Vera and Toni Morrison
Get PDFThis thesis will use close reading and postcolonial and feminist criticism to argue that Africans and African-Americans, and consequently the works of Zimbabwean author Yvonne Vera and African-American author Toni Morrison, are connected by memory and rememory, including spirituality, generational trauma, oral tradition, and ritual reenactment and that this connection comes through the Middle Passage. The works of both authors reveal a transatlantic tradition of Black women employing African spirituality to challenge or overcome what bell hooks calls the oppressive systems of imperialist White supremacist capitalist patriarchies; however, despite the spiritual link between the peoples, Africans and African-American culture can never be one; individual experiences of slavery, colonialism, cultural assimilation, etc. have created divides. The connection between Morrison and Vera is closer linked not only by their shared historical and spiritual background, but also the connection between author and aspiring author. In her biography, Vera’s mother says, “Toni Morrison was also one of her favourite authors and she would read her book, The Bluest Eye, regularly. This is the book that she would read every year on her birthday” which indicates that Morrison influenced Vera (Gwetai 1113). Using Dionne Brand’s poetic nonfiction text, A Map to the Door of No Return, as theory through which to analyze the fiction texts, it also serves to close the geographic gap between Vera and Morrison, demonstrating how the Middle Passage is the place of the imagination to which both authors belong. The primary fiction texts used include Yvonne Vera’s Nehanda, Butterfly Burning, and The Stone Virgins, and Toni Morrison’s Beloved and A Mercy. Each of these texts reveals the untold stories of the girls and women who have endured slavery, imperialism, or their legacies whom are “call[ed]...beloved, which was not beloved” (Beloved epigraph)
The effects of gendered power in the workplace
No full textThis study investigates the relationship between gender diversity in a workplace and the self-perceived power of individual workers, and how that relationship affects worker’s levels ambivalent sexism, job stress, and job anxiet
Metabolomics-based approach for the screening of endometrial cancer
No full textThis project aims to develop a method for effectively screening endometrial cancer using metabolomics. Gas-Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry will be used to determine the metabolic signatures of patients enrolled in a clinical trial at Erlanger
Mindful Yoga as a means of reducing college student stress
No full textThousands of years ago, yoga was intended to refocus and prepare an individual for self-exploration. Today, the “colloquial yoga” has manifested as an exercise fad. The aim of this study is to further investigate yoga as a stress reducing technique
It\u27s really not funny: an analysis of society\u27s ability to justify rape-based humor when targeted towards conflicting populations
No full textThe current political climate and increase of sexual abuse allegations against high-profile individuals has prompted society to begin justifying rape-based jokes. This presentation illustrates how those jokes target specific persons and populations
Speech social anxiety in women
No full textSocially anxious women were randomly asigned to give a speech in front of a male or female confederate. The relationship between self-perceived attractiveness and anxiety was positive with a female confederate but negative with a male confederate
Empowering students as critical thinkers through social media production and management
No full textThe project aims to empower students to create and manage their own social media content. The project will encourage students to share a part of themselves with the world through building their digital portfolio on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitte
Mutually exclusive: ethical decision making in technology
No full textHear the results of a quantitative survey of the ethical beliefs of software engineers in the Tennessee area and learn whether those beliefs will support or detract from societal good or customer safety when it count