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Basketball for South Africa: An Examination of the Business Landscape in South Africa and the National Basketball Association\u27s Venture into the South African Market
Full text linkThis research paper was completed as an Honors Project for an SFASU International Management course in the fall of 2023. The paper covers the National Basketball Association\u27s (NBA) overall business strategy and its expansion into the state of South Africa. The study introduces South Africa and its business environment, including its government structure, economic environment, trade environment, and political risks. Then, an analysis of how the NBA works in the international arena is done. The analysis examines the creation of NBA Africa and why the league targeted that area. The results of the research found that the N BA\u27s Basketball Africa League is welcomed by citizens and that South Africa\u27s environment could have more unforeseen challenges for the league
So Much (For) Saving Rock and Roll: The Musical DNA of Fall Out Boy
Full text linkAlthough the American rock band Fall Out Boy has had a great impact upon the popular music scene since their first album in 2003, little academic literature exists exploring their musical and cultural influences and impact. Through careful transcription and analysis this thesis defines Fall Out Boy’s compositional tendencies and contextualizes their work in the greater Western popular music canon. My composition, AQUA, is a continuation and response to Fall Out Boy’s seminal album, So Much (For) Stardust. Grounded in influences from Fall Out Boy’s music and my personal journey as a musician and queer individual, AQUA represents a deeply personal and thematically rich exploration of identity, resilience, and artistic expression. The central goal of AQUA is to bridge the narrative gap between So Much (For) Stardust and my own work, adapting their musical language with my own compositional practices. Through a multifacited approach that embraces diverse influences and explores complex themes, AQUA represents a significant milestone in my creative output. It intertwines the realms of rock music and contemporary chamber music and offers a unique perspective on the intersection of identity and creativity
When Trying to Reach Zombies and Other Stories
Full text linkWhen Trying to Reach Zombies and Other Stories is a collection of nine short stories and a novella that focuses on Christian speculative fiction. The collection uses the themes and images from Christianity and the tools of speculative fiction to tell stories. In “When Trying to Reach Zombies,” zombies are able to come back to life through Christian conversion. “Smokin’ Hot Wife” focuses on small church politics. “Free From Responsibility” explores a world where AI has religion. “Mrs. Peterson’s Hedge” is a retelling of an Old Testament story of destruction. “Sea Foam on the Rocky Beach” explores a world of soulless mermaids. “The Man and His Lamb” is an original fairy tale based on an Old Testament tale. “The Story of Three Siblings” explores classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes through the eyes of their villains. The collection explores Christian themes and retellings in an unexpected and gripping manner
THE MAKING OF THE RUSSIAN AT CHRISTMAS
Full text linkThis thesis will explain the process of making my feature film, The Russian at Christmas, which I wrote, directed, and edited myself. I will discuss my influences for the film, and how those influences led to my own visual and writing style. By walking through the stages of pre-production, production, and post- production, I will discuss the film from conception to completion. My time in the SFA film program – including working on four other summer features – prepared me to direct my own feature film. Completing this feature film was a daunting task that has no comparison to directing short films
A UNIFORMLY MOST POWERFUL TEST FOR THE MEAN OF A BETA DISTRIBUTION
Full text linkThe beta distribution is used in numerous real-world applications, including areas such as manufacturing (quality control) and analyzing patient outcomes in health care. It also plays a key role in statistical theory, including multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and Bayesian statistics. It is a flexible distribution that can account for many different characteristics of real data. To our surprise, there has been very little work or discussion on performing statistical hypothesis testing for the mean when it is reasonable to assume that the population is beta distributed. Many analysts conduct traditional analyses using a t-test or nonparametric approach, try transformations, or use standard maximum likelihood-based approaches. We showed via simulations that these tools cannot appropriately control type I error rates for various situations. Additionally, this research has set out to construct a uniformly most powerful test using saddle point approximations. These approximations tend to have better accuracy than traditional likelihood-based methods, even when sample sizes are quite low. We provide the necessary methodology development to perform the test. Further simulation studies on power of test are conducted to compare our new method to traditional approaches and illustrate the superiority of our test in many situations. We also provided recommendations on the best way to use this new approach
STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE PUMA DIAPIR, GULF OF MEXICO BASIN
Full text linkThe Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Basin has been a significant target for oil and gas since the 1990s and continues today as a leading exploration target. This super basin is home to an estimated 200 BBOE (Billon barrels of oil equivalent), with current production totaling 60 BBOE for both USA and Mexico. Even though the overall depositional evolution of the GOM has allowed for the key elements for petroleum accumulations to be met, a complex structural framework is present. This framework results from the asymmetric spreading of the North American Plate from the Yucatan block crating the GOM basin we see today, coupled with Jurassic Louann Salt deposits precipitated throughout the basin. The subsequent increasing sedimentary load created complex gravity-induced tectonic structures, resulting in various salt stocks and canopies forming in the Louann Salt. This research aims to characterize the structure surrounding the Puma Diapir, located in the southeastern region of the Green Canyon Protraction of the Gulf of Mexico. The seismic dataset is a multiclient 3D depth survey from WesternGeco that combines wide azimuth acquisition (WAZ) and full azimuth acquisition (FAZ) datasets to produce a final image. The base and top of the salt in our study area are carefully mapped using the Kingdom Suite software. These structure maps are used as a visual aid in accessing the structural framework of the salt dome. Within the Puma Diapir, there are two salt feeders into the canopy. Above the allochthonous salt sheet, we find secondary bucket-style minibasins, where the strata are sinking into the underlying salt feeders. The area consists of a variety of normal faults, and reactive salt structures. Above the salt dome, shallow extension faulting is the result of the rising body. Overall, the Puma Diapir shows classic, yet complex structural features associated with salt movement
Mental Health Practitioners’ Trauma Knowledge and Self-Efficacy Post-EMDR Training
Full text linkThis research study examines mental health practitioners’ level of trauma knowledge and trauma treatment self-efficacy pre- and post-EMDR therapy training in Texas. The purpose is to determine if practitioners\u27 self-perception of efficacy in treating trauma and trauma knowledge will improve after completing EMDR training. The practitioner sample (N = 113) is from an EMDR trainer who conducted six EMDR trainings in Texas. Descriptive, correlational, and paired t-test statistical procedures were implemented to analyze the data for the study. The results show that practitioners’ self-perception of competence and knowledge could be attributed to their years of clinical experience treating clients with trauma. The results also show practitioners’ knowledge of trauma (pre=3.38, SD=.36; post =3.53, SD=.31 on a 5-point Likert scale) and treatment self-efficacy (pre=5.76, SD=1.98; post =7.77, SD=1.25 on a 11-point Likert scale) improved post-EMDR training with a medium effect size of .44 for knowledge of trauma and a large effect size of -1.21 for treatment self-efficacy. Therefore, EMDR therapy training improved practitioners’ knowledge of trauma and their treatment self-efficacy. The clinical implications of this study show the educational effects EMDR therapy training has on practitioners’ treatment, and based on these results, it is important to determine whether other trauma-focused trainings have similar effects
Comparison of Dual Enrollment Student Grades in Introductory Biology College Dual-Enrollment Courses Taken in Texas High Schools or Colleges for School Leaders
Full text linkDual Enrollment (DE) or Dual Credit (DC) programs have become increasingly prevalent at both the high school and college settings. These programs enable students to earn both high school and college credit and get a head start on their college education. Additionally, students in these programs must take university core curriculum courses to fulfill their college education requirements. A course that several students take is Introductory to Biology, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) course. This course is an introductory science course and may present a challenge for students in that there is a large quantity of material discussed. Moreover, students must adapt to new study strategies excel in the course. Moreover, educational administrators or school leaders, administrators or principals must consider student performance and therefore must look at location and student performance to better improve student outcomes. Scant studies look at school leaders’ perception on science dual enrollment courses. Moreover, administrators must have systems in place to promote high quality instruction and student success in dual enrollment courses. This study will look at students taking introductory biology courses and their performance at both the high school and non-high school locations (i.e. college environment) in Texas using the Mann-Whitney U statistical test. In addition, this study will provide recommendations to high school leaders such as administrators and principals regarding location and student outcomes for students in dual enrollment biology courses to ensure high quality instruction and student achievement are in place
Plane of Existence: A Composition by an SFA Percussionist, for the SFA Percussion Ensemble
No full textUNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS (UAS) IMAGE PREPROCESSING TO REDUCE ARTIFACTS AND IMPROVE GEOMETRIC REGISTRATION WHEN GENERATING ORTHOPHOTO MOSAICS AND 3D MODELS
Full text linkDrones can now be used to quickly collect imagery data in a highly automated way; however, individual images must be combined to form an orthomosaic or 3-Dimentional (3D) model using photogrammetry software. Currently, the existing software may generate erroneous output in the form of artifacts or positional errors caused by homogeneous areas, light reflections, object movement between photos, or sub-optimal algorithms. The goal of this research was to develop preprocessing algorithms that would filter movement (or other time or position-based differences) and areas of homogeneity. The hypothesis is that filtering these parts of the image would reduce artifacts and improve the positional accuracy of the resulting orthomosaic images and 3D models. Software improvements to reduce these errors will be especially useful if delivered in an open-source product. Python code was developed to preprocess the images that were input to OpenDroneMap (ODM). The system was tested on a variety of different datasets that each contained a subset of the characteristics that often cause problems (movement, reflection, or undifferentiated areas). Various combinations of filters (treatments) were applied to the datasets and the 2D and 3D results were reviewed for a reduction in artifacts. The results were significantly better with respect to artifacts, but no significant improvement in positional accuracy was observed except in the cases where the drone stopped when capturing an image