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 Bayesian Hierarchical Models That Incorporate New Sources of Dependence for Boundary Detection and Spatial Prediction
Bayesian Hierarchical Models That Incorporate New Sources of Dependence for Boundary Detection and Spatial Prediction
Spatial boundary analysis has attained considerable attention in several disciplines including engineering, spatial statistics, and computer science. The inferential question of interest is to identify rapid surface changes of an unobserved latent process. We extend Curvilinear Wombling, the current state-of-art method for point referenced data that is curve measure based and limited to a single spatial scale, to multiscale settings. Specifically, we propose a multiscale representation of the directional derivative of Karhunen-Lo'eve (DDKL) expansion to perform multiscale direction-based boundary detection. By aggregating curvilinear wombling measure, we extend curvilinear boundary detection from curve to zone. Furthermore, we propose a direction-based multiscale curvilinear boundary error criterion to quantify curvilinear boundary fallacy (CBF), which is an analogue to the ecological fallacy in the spatial change of support literature. We refer to this metric as the criterion for boundary aggregation error (BAGE). Several theoretical results are derived to motivate BAGE. Particularly, we show that no boundary aggregation error exists when directional derivatives of eigenfunctions of a Karhunen-Lo'eve expansion are constant across spatial scales. We illustrate the use of our model through a simulated example and an application of Mediterranean wind measurements. The American Community Survey (ACS) is an ongoing survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, which publishes estimates of important demographic statistics over pre-specified administrative areas periodically. Spatially referenced binomial count data are widely present in ACS. Since the sample size of a binomial count is often a realization of a random process, the probability of an outcome and the probability of a trial number are possibly correlated. We consider a joint model for both binomial outcome and the trial number. Latent Gaussian process (LGP) models are widely used to analyze for non-Gaussian ACS count data. However, there are computational problems; for example, LGPs may involve subjective tuning of parameters using Metroplis-Hastings. To improve computational performance of Gibbs sampling, we include the latent multivariate logit-beta distribution (MLB) in our joint model for binomial and negative binomial count data. The closed form full-conditional distributions are straightforward to simulate from without subjective tuning steps within a Gibbs sampler. We illustrate the proposed model through simulations and an application of ACS poverty estimates at the county level., A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Statistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2019, October 24, 2019., Includes bibliographical references., Jonathan R. Bradley, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Xufeng Niu, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Kevin Speer, University Representative; Fred Huffer, Committee Member.
 Design, Simulation and Fabrication of Multijunction Polymer and Hybrid Solar Cells
Design, Simulation and Fabrication of Multijunction Polymer and Hybrid Solar Cells
In recent years, organic solar cells (OSCs) have been attracting much attention due to the ease of processing, low cost, flexibility, and lightweight compared to the traditional inorganic solar cells. Although OSC looks promising, it has some significant limitations. One limitation is the low efficiencies of the OSCs compared to silicon and III-V compound solar cells, due to limited exciton generation when the light strike on it and low electron and hole mobility. Moreover, OSC has poor stability and short lifetime, due to the degradation of the polymer/electrode interface. For improve the efficiency of PSC, several methods implemented such as annealing, device structure tuning, and active material modification, etc. Among them staking two or more organic junctions (BHJ/HJ) are called tandem structure is one of the most effective solutions. Also, the PV devices using a mixture of inorganic nanoparticle and conjugated polymers called hybrid solar cells (HSCs), has been gain popularity for absorbing near-infrared light. It is essential to tune the thickness of active layers used in tandem photovoltaic to optimize the device performance. Finding the optimum tandem structure using trial and error experiments is expensive and sometimes ineffective. Simulation is a more efficient tool to create the most suitable tandem device structure. The current-voltage (J-V) characteristics will be used to compare the results of simulation and experimental data. The transfer matrix method is implemented for optical modeling of an OSC and HSCs, which was inspired by McGehee Group MATLAB program. The program calculates optimal thicknesses active layers giving the best short circuit current (Jsc) value. It has here shown different multijunction polymer solar cell which can able to absorb sunlight beyond 1000nm. Then explained the high-efficiency hybrid (organic and inorganic) solar cell which can absorb the sunlight with wavelength beyond 2500nm. In this work, we present a novel multijunction polymer solar cell and hybrid solar cell designs. Approximately 12% efficiency obtained from multijunction polymer solar cell, and 20% efficiency from every two, three, and four junction hybrid solar cells, under one sun AM1.5 illumination. Based on the simulation results, we fabricated single-junction PbS Quantum Dot (QD) solar cell. The PbS quantum dots (QD) is a promising nanostructured material for solar cell. However, insufficient works have been done to explore the active layer thickness, stability improvement, the layer deposition techniques, and cost reduction for PbS QD solar cell. We addressed those issues of device fabrication and suggested their possible solutions. In our work, to get maximum current density from a PbS QD solar cell, we estimated optimized active layer thickness using MATLAB simulation. After that, we fabricated high performance and low-cost QD photovoltaic (PV)device with the simulated optimized active layer thickness. We implemented the low-cost device by using 10mg/ml PbS concentration. Here drop-cast layer deposition and spin coating methods were used and compared. We found that the device fabricated by the spin coating method is more efficient than the drop cast method. The spin-coated PbS QD solar cell produced 6.5% power conversion efficiency (PCE) at AM1.5 light spectrum. Besides, we observed, Cr (chromium) interfaces with the Ag (Cr- Ag) electrode can provide a high air-stable electrode., A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2019, October 10, 2019., Hybrid Solar Cells, Low Cost, Multijunction, PbS QD Solar Cell, Polymer Solar Cells, Stability, Includes bibliographical references., Simon Y. Foo, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anke Meyer-Baese, University Representative; Petru Andrei, Committee Member; Shonda Bernadin, Committee Member; Zhibin Yu, Committee Member.
 Developing Multi-Frequency EPR Methods for Studying Protein-Lipid Interactions on the HIV Membrane
Developing Multi-Frequency EPR Methods for Studying Protein-Lipid Interactions on the HIV Membrane
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is a powerful technique to study biomolecules. EPR has been employed to investigate the structure and dynamics of biological membranes, membrane proteins, and protein-lipid interactions. Multi-frequency and high-field experiments enhance the ability of EPR to observe spin dynamics at different time scales and to obtain high-resolution spectra, including 𝑔 anisotropy sensitivity. However, the lack of available techniques and instruments hinders the application of high-field EPR for biological studies. In this work, we focused on the development of multi-frequency EPR methods in order to characterize protein-lipid interactions on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) membrane. HIV infects T cells through a process of membrane fusion. The membrane-bound regions of a viral surface protein gp41, including the membrane proximal ectodomain region (MPER) and the transmembrane region (TM), facilitate membrane fusion and have been targeted for vaccine and drug development. This fusion process is mediated by the raft-like viral membrane that contains a high quantity of cholesterol. The molecular details of gp41-viral membrane interactions during the fusion process are still unclear. To investigate these interactions, we introduced and further developed several EPR methods: 1) Determining peptide-induced lipid orientational disorder using magnetically aligned bicelles (Chapter 3). Bicelles with 20 mol% cholesterol were applied to elucidate how the MPER/TM disrupts the lipid orientational order of the viral membrane. 2) Analyzing the lipid lateral ordering of raft-like lipids using EPR at 94 GHz (Chapter 4). The results demonstrated that this parameter, which reflects the order of the lipids along the membrane plane, has a high sensitivity to lipid motion changes as a result of protein-lipid interactions or lipid composition/position differences. 3) Development of magnetically aligned bicelles containing raft-like lipids using multi-frequency EPR (Chapter 5). For the first time, raft- like bicelles were aligned in the magnetic field with an optimized q value and lipid ratios. These aligned membranes enable studies of membrane properties and protein associations, including the MPER/TM. Other methods involved in this study included lipid fluidity measurements, a fairly new membrane permeability assay, and the application of spin-spin distance measurements to determine peptide self-association and oligomerization. Using these methods, we demonstrated that the MPER interacts strongly with the viral membrane, perturbs the bilayer, and induces significant lipid mobility, membrane permeability, and lipid orientational order changes. The MPER-induced membrane property changes are modulated by the cholesterol content and the TM. Cholesterol inhibits MPER-lipid interactions and promotes MPER/TM oligomerization. The TM stabilizes the MPER on the membrane and abolishes the inhibition effect of cholesterol. In summary, we have improved multi-frequency EPR techniques to study proteins and membranes, and elucidated the mechanism of‎ the‎ MPER/TM‎ of‎ HIV‎ gp41’s‎ interaction with the viral membrane., A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2019, July 10, 2019., Includes bibliographical references., Likai Song, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Stephen Hill, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Timothy A. Cross, University Representative; Nicholas E. Bonesteel, Committee Member; Jeremiah W. Murphy, Committee Member.
 Effects of Learning Support in a Math Game on Learners' in-Game Performance, Knowledge Acquisition, and Game Flow
Effects of Learning Support in a Math Game on Learners' in-Game Performance, Knowledge Acquisition, and Game Flow
Learning support with conceptual and/or procedural knowledge for problem solving is a powerful and frequently used approach to help students improve their academic achievement in GBL. The study is warranted in the body of research on how to design learning support with conceptual and/or procedural knowledge for problem solving in GBL environments in the domain of math learning. A pretest-posttest experimental design was used to examine the effects of the type of learning supports (supports with conceptual and/or procedural knowledge) for mathematical problem solving in GBL on students’ in-game performance measured by on-task time and time of attempts, mathematical achievement, and game flow. The study incorporates three conditions that are identical with respect to learning objectives (game-based math problem solving) and the learning environment (the GBL environment) but differ in only one variable: learning support. Forty-five participants were recruited from four sixth-grade classes of a charter school in the western United States. Participants in each class session were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: (a) learning support with procedural knowledge only game playing, (b) learning support with conceptual knowledge only game playing, or (c) learning support with both conceptual and procedural knowledge game playing. Of these recruited 45 participants, 42 completed the entire four-day experiment, but one of them did not complete all the tests and the game flow survey. Thus, data from 42 participants were used to answer the first research question, and data from 41 participants, who completed the entire four-day experiment and finished all tests and surveys, were used to answer the second and the third research questions in the statistical analysis. No significant differences were found among three learning conditions in students’ in-game performance measured by on-task time and number of attempts, and game flow experience. The results indicated that learning support with procedural knowledge only, compared with learning support with both conceptual and procedural knowledge, and that with conceptual knowledge only, was the most significantly effective in promoting students’ math test scores. The current study revealed that different types of learning supports embedded in a game-based learning environment have different effects on the knowledge acquisition of mathematical problem solving. Learning support should be carefully designed and incorporated in the GBL environment. Furthermore, additional learning support is not always beneficial for reaching game flow, and may further interrupt what is enjoyable about the game, which may have a negative effect on learning in a GBL environment. The findings of the current study indicated that participants in the condition of learning support with procedural knowledge only performed better in the post-gaming math tests than the students who were given learning support with both conceptual and procedural knowledge and those with conceptual knowledge only. Moreover, it is important to provide students with learning support that can balance the acquisition of content-specific knowledge and that of content-generic knowledge and diminish the negative effects of players’ technical skills on in-game performance, particularly in a GBL environment that emphasizes high keyboard control (e.g. a 3D game)., 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., 2019, October 28, 2019., conceptual and procedural knowlege, game-based learning, game-based math problem solving, game flow, in-game performance, learning support, Includes bibliographical references., Fengfeng Ke, Professor Directing Dissertation; Motoko Akiba, University Representative; James Klein, Committee Member; Vanessa Dennen, Committee Member.
 Examining Local Government Information Sharing through Three Different Lenses of Social Networks, Policy Networks, and Public Management
Examining Local Government Information Sharing through Three Different Lenses of Social Networks, Policy Networks, and Public Management
This dissertation uncovers the underlying structure of inter-organizational information sharing in the public sector from three different theoretical perspectives. Drawing on theories in social networks, policy networks and public management, this study answers the following questions: 1) why are city governments more likely to share information with one another when they belong to the same county? 2) when do local governments share information with one another under a competitive environment? 3) what motivational bases exist for public managers to willingly learn from other governments’ experiences, which, in turn, will lead to more frequent information sharing between governments. To answer the first question, one chapter explores why and when county jurisdiction helps city governments overcome the collective action dilemma in inter-governmental information sharing based on the insight of the ‘strength of strong ties’ hypothesis that ‘people help their friends first, acquaintances later (chum strategy)’. Using exponential random graph model (ERGM), the analysis of economic development information (EDI) sharing patterns among 34 cities in the Orlando metropolitan area confirms that EDI sharing between strong-tied municipal governments, ones sharing the same county jurisdiction, is more likely to take place under two specific conditions: 1) when cities are expected to get more collective demand for the information from others and 2) when they have greater demand for the information. This finding suggests that county jurisdiction boundary functions as a barrier in the exchange of EDI between municipal governments. Regarding the second question, a subsequent chapter investigates how inter-governmental competition affects the tendency of local actors sharing information with one another. Informal policy networks and formal contracts are distinctive governing mechanisms for addressing collaboration risks. Institutional collective action (ICA) theory suggests that a formal contract will be preferred over an informal policy network in inter-governmental relationships, as partner’s defection risk increases under a competitive environment. This paper builds on and extends this proposition by advancing and testing a more complete explanation for local government’s preference of one mechanism over another and investigating how it varies depending on the level of competition in each dyadic local government relationship. This is demonstrated through the development of a substantive measurement strategy for dyadic economic development competition between governments, as well as the assessment of the validity and reliability of the measure. Estimation of QAP network regressions reveals that local governments prefer a formal contract over an informal policy network with their partners when the competition between them increases. However, competition does not necessarily reduce the use of informal policy networks between local actors but rather results in more frequent informal networks between them. The conclusion discusses the practical implications of the findings for government managers and how the measurement approach advanced in this study can be applied to studies of inter-governmental relations in other policy arenas. Lastly, this dissertation additionally explores how public service motivation (PSM) is associated with government officials’ willingness to learn from other governments’ practices drawing on the debates of public sector benchmarking and PSM theory. Benchmarking between local governments has become an important topic in public administration. In benchmarking practice, local government officials play important roles in deciding what they learn, who they learn from and how to adopt and adapt to the lessons. However, less attention has been paid to why local government officials to willingly take lessons from their peer governments. Focusing on a particular type of motivational basis, public service motivation (PSM), this study assesses how PSM and its four dimensions are associated with local government officials’ willingness to learn from other governments’ practices., A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2019, August 27, 2019., County Jurisdiction, Information Sharing, Intergovernmental Competition, PSM, Public Sector, Includes bibliographical references., Richard C. Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Mark Isaac, University Representative; Frances Stokes Berry, Committee Member; Ralph S. Brower, Committee Member.
 Exploring the Emergence and Dynamics of Meanings in a Public Network at Local Level in Chile
Exploring the Emergence and Dynamics of Meanings in a Public Network at Local Level in Chile
This is a study about how participants in a public network understand and construct meanings for their relationships, where this construction of meanings comes from, and the effect they produce in the network operation. Three propositions guide this study. First, the way people interpret their relationships will have consequences on the network’s emergence, change, and outcome. Second, given actors’ diversity and novelty of public networks as a form of organizational interaction, multiple interpretations of relationships are possible. This potential diversity of meanings challenges the stability of network operations. Third, everyday reasoning relies heavily upon culturally available sets of meanings. Thus, a cultural explanation of public networks is not a residual account but a central component. The study applies a qualitative case study approach and relies on ethnographic methods of data collection to uncover the meanings of relationships in the context of an inter-local partnership in Chile. A grounded analysis of empirical material and a complementary social network analysis of network data yielded to propositions about the relations between contextual conditions, network meanings, and consequences of network meaning construction. The study finds no singular but multiple meanings attached to the relationships forming the partnership; together they can describe what members understand as the whole network. The study shows that the meanings of the partnership are grounded on a context constructed by actors based on shared schemata. These schemata shape members’ interpretation of the context and allow them to perceive certain events as opportunities for collective actions from where new meanings of ties emerge. Besides, shared schemata give shape to the operation of the partnership by limiting the range of alternatives and by predisposing members to interact in certain ways. These ways of operation demonstrate functional and non-functional effects. This study conclusion suggests some conceptual and theoretical “turns” that can be incorporated to the study of cultural phenomenon in public networks and three research extensions., A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2016, May 20, 2016., Chilean Municipalities, Cultural phenomenon, Network Management, Public networks, Qualitative approach, Includes bibliographical references., Ralph S. Brower, Professor Directing Dissertation; Petra L. Doan, University Representative; Frances S. Berry, Committee Member; Lance M. DeHaven-Smith, Committee Member; William Hale Butler, Committee Member.
 Measuring Mathematics and Science Teacher Effectiveness Using Advanced Course-Taking in High School
Measuring Mathematics and Science Teacher Effectiveness Using Advanced Course-Taking in High School
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate any variation in the level of mathematics and science courses that students take in high school that can be attributable to the mathematics and science teachers they had in previous grades and explore the relationship between teacher effects on the level of mathematics and science courses that students take and teacher effects on students’ test scores. Using value-added models, I investigated mathematics and science teacher effects on the level of mathematics and science courses their students take in upper grades in high school. I also compared the estimated teacher effects on course levels with the estimated teacher effects on students test scores. The findings showed that both mathematics and science teachers vary in terms of their students taking higher level, more advanced mathematics and science courses in high school. These teacher effects are persistent across classrooms of teachers and the variation of teacher effects is between 0.11 and 0.15 standard deviation. These variations are more than or equal to the variation of teacher effects on students’ test scores. Moreover, mathematics and science teacher effects on the level of mathematics and science courses their students take in upper grades vary by student characteristics. The largest difference in teacher effects was found between students who receive exceptional education and students who do not receive exceptional education. Finally, this study also showed weak relationships between the estimated teacher effects on the level of mathematics and science courses taken and teacher effects on test scores. This suggests that teachers who increase students’ test scores are not necessarily the ones who also increase their students’ course-level outcomes. Further research is needed to investigate teacher effects on the level of future mathematics and science courses students take in experimental settings. Exploring the mechanism that show the relationship between teachers and the level of courses students is also another area for future research., 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., 2019, September 5, 2019., Course Taking, Teacher Effectiveness, Includes bibliographical references., Courtney Preston, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Linda Schrader, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Sherry Southerland, University Representative; Patrice Iatarola, Committee Member; Lara Perez-Felkner, Committee Member.
 Robust Geometric Morphometric Analysis for Surface Meshes
Robust Geometric Morphometric Analysis for Surface Meshes
Geometric morphometrics has traditionally relied on named anatomical landmarks for the statistical analysis of shape, but that is changing. With the now-widespread availability of 3D surface and volumetric scanning technology, performing shape analysis using high-resolution 3D data is a very active area of research. The method described by Pomidor, Makedonska, and Slice (2016), Generalized Procrustes Surface Analysis (GPSA), is one of many new techniques to analyze the shape of objects using 3D surfaces instead of landmarks, but is still based on a generalized Procrustes framework. Frequently, surface-based shape analysis methods are limited by the topological properties of the objects being analyzed. In geometric morphometric data sets, one is often working with data sets where connectivity and number of boundary components may differ, and objects may or may not be closed. By continuing development as a generalization of multivariate shape analysis, it is possible to largely circumvent this problem. While methodologically sound, GPSA has several areas that could be improved. It is predicated on a basic version of the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm (a family of methods for image superimposition) and a simple, but weak, set of correspondence rules. This reduces the accuracy of the estimated homology and methods that rely on this estimation. GPSA also operates only on the cloud of points making up a surface and, if one exists, does not make use of the accompanying surface mesh, which makes it highly dependent on the distribution of points in space. The inclusion of a mesh has become relatively standard practice and can be used to significantly improve the superimposition and analysis by allowing calculation of metrics that describe the local shape. The methods for prototype deformation and homologization, both of which are reliant on the estimated homology, only use the prototype-to-sample homology for stability reasons, biasing any resultant analysis towards the mean. Finally, the cost function used during superimposition (point-to-plane ICP) is not derived from the distance metric (Procrustes Surface Metric) used to analyze the objects after superimposition. The two are closely related, so the distance metric is reduced as the ICP cost function is minimized, but they are not identical and thus the distance metric is not optimally minimized by the superimposition. Here, the same generalized Procrustes algorithmic structure used in GPSA is kept, but with several modifications made to offer a more accurate, more efficient, more robust method for surface-based statistical shape analysis. These modifications begin with re-deriving the cost function from a reformulated shape distance metric. This metric is based on the area-weighted vertices of one surface mesh and corresponding points on another mesh, rather than pairs of points in two point clouds. Local shape descriptors and λ|μ smoothing are used to improve the approximated homology. Efficiency is addressed with a better memory management model and a different implementation of the space partitioning tree. A newly defined metric helps determine the quality of a match between two points. These match quality values are used in a resistant-fit extension based on Trimmed ICP to emulate the outlier-resistant behavior of the Generalized Resistant-Fit superimposition method for landmark-based morphometrics. The method is then evaluated using several data sets. Some of these are artificial data sets generated using the Stanford bunny, a surface scan commonly used for testing mesh-based algorithms, while the rest are real-world data sets. These include scans of phytoliths, which are relatively smooth, featureless silicate structures found in plants and a key tool for paleobotanists in reconstructing ancient environments. The scanned phyotliths come from Anomochloa, a genus of grass-like Brazilian plants. The scans of small primate skulls originally used to test GPSA are also used in order to provide a way to compare this improved method to both GPSA and to Generalized Procrustes Analysis (GPA), the standard tool for landmark-based morphometric analysis. No attempt is made to draw any conclusions regarding the biological interpretation of these results; rather, these tests are used to make inferences about the properties of the analysis method. Some of this evaluation is qualitative, such as appraising how sound the topology of the resulting meshes are or interpreting heat maps. The shape distances between the surfaces generated or superimposed during the analysis are used as the basis for quantitative comparison., A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Scientific Computing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2019, November 15, 2019., Geometric morphometrics, Procrustes, Resistant-Fit, Shape analysis, Surface mesh, Includes bibliographical references., Peter Beerli, Professor Directing Dissertation; Scott Steppan, University Representative; Nick Cogan, Committee Member; Anke Meyer-Baese, Committee Member; Sachin Shanbhag, Committee Member.
 Strategy of Being "Military Friendly" a Comprehensive Look at the Strategies Employed under the Banner of Military and Veteran Friendliness
Strategy of Being "Military Friendly" a Comprehensive Look at the Strategies Employed under the Banner of Military and Veteran Friendliness
Veterans in higher education are not a new phenomenon, but over the past decade, policies put in place in organizations designed to support this population have grown in number and impact. This manuscript is assembled as a series of studies that investigate the strategic management implementation of adopting these policies impacting veterans in two ways: (1) as clients, or students, and (2) as bureaucrats, or employees. It begins by analyzing policies adopted to support student veteran success and transition in order to determine which actually play a role in student veteran outcomes, graduation. Findings suggest that the policies that touch student veterans at the beginning of their higher education journey, a veteran-specific orientation and single point-of-contact, correlate positively with graduation rates at both the 6- and 8-year measures. This project then looks at the strategic management tools used by universities to drive behavior and decision-making within the organization, including the mission statement, strategic plan, long-term goals, as well as other veteran-specific strategic tools. Diversity seems to be a common theme amongst both university-wide and veteran-specific tools, indicating that veteran inclusion is a diversity initiative. Finally, this manuscript looks at how the strategic management tools impact adoption of population-specific policy asking, “What is the strategy of being ‘military friendly’?” As it turns out, there is not one. Outside of veteran human resource policy, most policies are seemingly adopted ad hoc. Possible reasons for this absence of strategy, including the fundamental misconception of veterans as being “at-risk,” are discussed and practitioner recommendations are made., A Dissertation submitted to the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., 2019, November 14, 2019., military friendly, policy, strategic management, strategy, student veteran, veteran, Includes bibliographical references., Frances Berry, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Daniel Fay, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Douglas Schrock, University Representative; David Berlan, Committee Member.
"20th Century Frontierswoman"
"20th Century Frontierswoman"
This purpose of this dissertation is to identify how journalist and newspaper publisher Almena Davis Lomax (1915-2011) attempted to persuade her Los Angeles Tribune readers to accept her vision of a better United States through her editorials and columns. Utilizing African American women's rhetorical theory and grounded theory, this rhetorical biography examined selected Tribune editorials and columns obtained primarily from the online database "African American Newspapers, 1827-1998," accessed through the Florida State University and Florida A&M University libraries. This database included 150 issues of the Tribune, from Sept. 6, 1943 to April 22, 1960. Specific years included were 1943, 1944, 1946, 1958, 1959, and 1960. Although the database did not include all issues, the available editions spanned the approximate length of the newspaper's publication (1941-1960). I supplemented the database's editions with several issues from 1945, 1955, and 1956 available from the Almena Lomax Papers at Emory University Library's Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. I thus conducted a convenience sample of extant editorials and columns in my analysis. Additional primary sources, which help shed light on Lomax's life, were obtained from the California State University-Fullerton Oral History Program (oral history of Lomax) and MARBL (interviews with Lomax and non-Tribune writings of Lomax's). From the online database and MARBL, I analyzed Tribune editorials written by Lomax labeled "Editorial What-Not," "More Editorial What-Not," "Political What-Not," "More Political What-Not," and "How 'Bout This." For each of the selected writings, I completed a data sheet based on Tippens' (2001) general guidelines, with modifications: 1. Column name, date, and page number; 2. Main topic; 3. Main theme; 4. Subtheme(s) (if any); 5. Argument/Claim; 6. Specific rhetorical tools. Once a data sheet was recorded for each editorial/column, all writings were then grouped chronologically. Within each of these time periods, I used the grounded theory approach and close reading to identify any themes and subthemes common in Lomax's available writings during the time period. Within each theme/subtheme, I then identified the most frequently occurring rhetorical tools, the best examples of Lomax's use of each tool, and my own argument as to how these tools functioned within that theme/subtheme(s). Each analysis chapter also included a critical argument I suggested as to how Lomax's rhetorical tools may have functioned within the time period under consideration to advance her arguments/claims within her Tribune editorials/columns. 1943-1956 During the Tribune's beginning and middle years, based on available editorials/columns, Lomax was primarily concerned with sociocultural issues and politics/civil rights. When addressing sociocultural issues, Lomax mainly employed self-disclosure and personal anecdote as rhetorical tools; when dealing with politics/civil rights, she engaged a variety of rhetorical means in her attempts to convince her Tribune readers. According to Kohrs Campbell (1986), Lomax's "authoritative," confrontational tone and style would have constituted a "masculine" form of discourse, though with some "feminine" elements (namely the privileging of personal experience, metaphorical language, and narrative modes of development); I suggest, however, that Lomax, as an African American woman, embodied a distinct rhetorical tradition whose features should not be evaluated in relation to an alien, superimposed standard of femininity, but should instead be assessed by its own merits as an entity unto itself (Royster, 2000; Davis & Houston, 2002). 1958 In 1958, Lomax appeared to be mainly preoccupied with politics/civil rights, but also sociocultural and personal concerns. Her Tribune editorials/columns dealing with politics/civil rights were largely characterized by name calling and/or inventive, as well as a sarcastic, cynical, and/or patronizing tone. Those addressing sociocultural issues featured mainly ethos as the primary rhetorical tool, and those concerned with personal issues most frequently utilized personal appeals, personal anecdotes, and ethos in her efforts to influence readers. Overall, her efforts to persuade her readers at this time through these means may have functioned rhetorically as her attempt to reinforce her desired persona as not only a knowledgeable and independent-minded journalist, but also as a worthwhile human being, despite her mental and emotional struggles. 1959-1960 In 1959-1960, Lomax appeared primarily concerned with issues of political leadership, and, to a lesser extent, politics/civic rights and personal issues. Although Lomax once again primarily utilized her favored rhetorical tool of cynicism in her available editorials/columns of 1959-1960, she also used whatever rhetorical means she found appropriate to meet her aims, especially when addressing politics/civil rights or personal issues. This variety of tools arguably functioned rhetorically to advance Lomax's stance as a capable, wise (especially in light of her eminent contested move South), and knowledgeable journalist, mother, and human being., Submitted Note: A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2014., Date of Defense: May 7, 2014., Keywords: African American, Journalism, Newspapers, Rhetoric, Speech, Women, Bibliography Note: Includes bibliographical references., Advisory Committee: Davis Houck, Professor Directing Dissertation; Maxine Jones, University Representative; Donna Marie Nudd, Committee Member; Felecia Jordan-Jackson, Committee Member; Stephen McDowell, Committee Member.
"A" Force of Deceit
"A" Force of Deceit
Following the devastation of the First World War, the British utterly rejected the idea of fighting another major war in their near future. As a result, the country's interwar policies were not geared towards maintaining a powerful military. When the Second World War erupted, the British found themselves completely unprepared. The situation was particularly dire in the Middle East where British forces faced a numerically superior Italian army. Because Cairo and the Suez Canal were vital to maintaining Britain's empire in the east, the British had no choice but to stand and fight. The man charged with defending Egypt was General Archibald P. Wavell, the commander-in-chief of the Middle East. Since his forces were out-numbered and poorly supplied, Wavell turned to deception to give his men an artificial advantage. After successfully carrying out deception in his first offensive against the Italians, Wavell decided to create an organization exclusively designed to deceive the enemy. To that end, he requested the services of Colonel Dudley Wrangel Clarke, an officer Wavell judged to be suitably unconventional in his approach to warfare. Clarke arrived in Cairo in December of 1940; by the end of March, 1941, he had created Britain's first deception organization - 'A' Force. Although 'A' Force's origins were humble, it developed into an impressive deception organization. With Clarke at its head, 'A' Force practiced deception on a scale unlikely repeated in the world. They were able to take advantage of modern technology, combined with innate creativity, to formulate some of the grandest deceptions of the war. Through a long and complex process of trial and error, Clarke and his men eventually perfected the art of deception. By the Battle of El Alamein, the deceptionists had created the blueprint that was to form the basis of all future deceptions. Thus, when the war reached Europe and London took over responsibility for coordinating Allied deception, the London deceivers modeled their efforts after those meticulously crafted by 'A' Force in Africa. In fact, the largest deception of the war, Operation Bodyguard (D-Day deception), was largely designed by men who had previously worked under Clarke and was based on the 'A' Force established blueprint. This work, which is the first to combine the military and deception histories into one cohesive narrative, argues that the British turned to deception out of pure necessity, that the deception machine was forged and perfected in the deserts of Africa ' not in London, and that the British were the masters of game., Submitted Note: A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy., Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2009., Date of Defense: October 26, 2009., Bibliography Note: Includes bibliographical references., Advisory Committee: Michael Creswell, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark Souva, University Representative; Peter Garretson, Committee Member; Darrin McMahon, Committee Member; Bawa Singh, Committee Member.

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