College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Chemistry

12141

Confronting the Fascist Past: Recollection and Reconciliation in Bertolucci’s Il conformista

"Bernardo Bertolucci’s Il conformista (The Conformist, 1970) confronts the specter of Fascism; though several decades after its fall, Bertolucci’s film underscores the insidious nature of Fascist thought, regret, and individual sense of culpability through a provocative reflection on difference, conformity, and power. My research bridges musicology and film studies to trace the lasting impact of Fascism in 20th-century Italian society. By examining the use of social song in Il conformista––specifically those associated with popular social and political formations during the Fascist and wartime periods––I suggest the ways in which performance critically functions as an agent of collective memory and, perhaps more importantly, forgetting. In analyzing Bertolucci’s use of music, performance, cinematography, and narrative, I argue that his cinematic style espouses political discourse that aims to undermine the enduring miasma of Fascist guilt and address the ways in which Fascism gained its influence.

Social song, as well as popular music more broadly-defined, are emerging topics of scholarly interest in the field of Italian Studies. Continued examination of the ways in which collective memory and trauma shape political discourse is critical to our understanding of Italy as a complex and historically complicated country. As an interdisciplinary scholar whose work relies on both Italian and English scholarship, my research on the use of Italian social song in the twentieth century seeks to join in dialogue with the burgeoning and passionate group of individuals devoted to the study of Italian popular music. My examination of film and music contributes to the greater discussion on how we relate to our historical past through media, performance, and politics. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 19.5)"

12138

College of Public Health and Health Professions - Psychology

Obesity is one of the leading causes of death in the nation. Successful treatment and prevention of this disease would preserve, promote, and improve the health and well being of thousands of Americans. Behavioral weight loss programs are currently the gold standard in obesity treatment, and self-monitoring is one of the most important factors in these interventions. Previous findings in a randomized controlled trial (Rural LITE) showed that moderate (MOD, 16 weekly sessions) and high (HIGH, 24 weekly sessions) doses of a behavioral weight-loss treatment produced significantly larger weight losses than low (LOW, 8 weekly sessions) dose treatment or a nutrition education control condition. In the current study, we investigated whether the effect of dose on weight loss was brought about by self-monitoring frequency. We examined the relationship between three treatment doses (LOW, MOD, HIGH), self-monitoring, and percent weight change during the 6-month initial intervention phase. The participants included 405 obese women and men from rural communities who completed the treatment phase of the trial. Program content was the same for each dose and included daily written self-monitoring logs of food intake and physical activity. Results showed that MOD and HIGH doses produced significantly more weight loss and self-monitoring than the LOW dose. Additionally, self-monitoring frequency was significantly associated with weight loss, and analyses showed that it fully mediated the relationship between treatment dose and weight loss. In other words, higher doses of treatment led to higher self-monitoring adherence, which in turn was associated with, if not responsible for, greater weight loss. These findings provide strong support for the causative role that self-monitoring plays in the behavioral treatment of obesity. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 14.9)

12137

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Political Science

"For the non-expert, this research re-considers the globally-applied assumption that high levels of diversity lead to less cooperation. The idea is that diversity, and particularly racial or ethnic diversity, is related to increased social conflict and means diverse communities are less able to come together to vie for public goods (i.e. local development projects). I pursue this question in Ghana and a crucial aspect of my research is a re-consideration of what it means for a community to be ethnically diverse. Typically scholars use linguistic definitions of ethnic groups. And for good reason: when individuals are not able to communicate with one another in their native tongues, the costs to developing a working relationship should increase and cooperation should be less efficient. In sub-Saharan African societies, ‘ethnic’ identities are intricately defined on linguistic, tribal, and religious bases—it is only the particular context which determines the salience. From my research experience in Ghana, however, I have found that within-linguistic tribal divisions are typically historically-based and result in more cooperation difficulties regardless of linguistic similarities.

This paper tests the ability of linguistically-defined diversity versus tribally-defined diversity versus religiously-defined diversity to predict public goods provisions. In my analysis, I find that the assumption that linguistic diversity is detrimental to public goods provision is overstated. Secondly, tribal heterogeneity is salient for one public good: education. This may mean that increased tribal homogeneity is necessary for hard-to-provide public goods, such as quality education. Finally, religious diversity is significant across all the models, but whether it increases or decreases the likelihood of a public good depends on the public good in question. In using a variety of identity constructs to define diversity, my analysis shows that diversity does generally decrease public goods provisions, but our diversity measurement tool greatly predetermines the outcome.

(Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 16.8)"

12131

Older adults can transfer error detection ability from ankle to elbow

Our ability to detect errors while performing any motor task (e.g. walking, picking a cup of water, etc) is crucial in the process of learning motor skills. Error detection influences how well we can learn new skill but also how well we can re-learn a skill during, for example, rehabilitation. With practice older adults can improve their error detection ability. Nonetheless, it is unknown whether older adults can transfer that ability between different body parts. As a consequence, we studied whether older adults can transfer their error detection ability from their left foot to their left arm. We found that if older adults practice a task with their left foot while predicting their performance (error detection) they can transfer their ability to detect errors to a similar task performed with their left elbow. This novel evidence can contribute to the way rehabilitation protocols are designed for older adults. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 11.1)

12130

An analytic evaluation of textbooks and dictionaries for isiXhosa and isiZulu as foreign languages in the United States.

"Two important aspects of this study are the sample of textbooks and dictionaries to be evaluated, and the contents of the books. The former include both printed and online resources available for the learning of the two languages, IsiZulu and IsiXhosa African foreign languages in the U.S. With regards to contents, consideration

will be given to what is contained, what is left out and why , as well as presentation issues related to the languages’ authentic forms and to their cultural connections. Students’ input will also be sought for their views . (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 9.8)"

12121

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Religion

This paper discusses a discourse analysis that was conducted within an archive of sermons from a Pentecostal congregation. The sermons were analyzed for changes in discussions of social topics, one of which was the topic of homosexuality. The results demonstrate that within this particular congregation the discourse on homosexuality has shifted significantly over the past three decades, and that current discussions of homosexuality are less focused on the practices of individuals themselves and more focused on political change relating to homosexuality. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 17.9)

12119

College of Medicine - Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy (XLMTM) is a genetic disease that results in skeletal muscle weakness. Patients with XLMTM have a life-expectancy of one year due to inability to breath properly. It is caused by mutations occurring within the MTM1 gene, which encodes an essential signaling regulator, myotubularin 1. Currently, there is not FDA approved treatment for this disease and patients only receive palliative care. This project aims to develop a gene therapy vector that may be a viable and long-term treatment for these patients. This vector will carry a normal copy of the MTM1 gene encapsidated in an adeno-associated virus type 9 vector, used for ability to travel systemically in the blood stream to the skeletal and cardiac muscles. Specifically explored in this abstract is the strength and localization of a region of DNA just upstream of the MTM1 gene, the endogenous promoter, to determine if control of the gene's expression can be beneficial. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.5)

12118

College of Health and Human Performance - Applied Physiology and Kinesiology

We know that the brain controls movement. Brain signals, however, are complex and difficult to interpret because it is not easy to isolate the brain activity for a specific task or purpose. Muscle activity is the very last physiological signal in the brain commanding pathway. Finding an association between our movements and muscle signals can help us understand how the brain commands our movements. We found that force variability, which is defined as unwanted fluctuation during voluntary force production, is in the muscle signal. This means that the unwanted fluctuation of our movements is from muscle signal that are directly related to brain. This result can help understand the source and structure of the unwanted variability in our movement due to aging or diseases. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 12)

12117

College of Health and Human Performance - Applied Physiology and Kinesiology

"Understanding the association between emotion and behavior has been of long-standing interest in the human movement research. Adapting a broad range of movement analyses such as physiological responses, motor performance time, and force control, studies have explored the underlying mechanism of the link between emotion and movement. Recent findings suggest that nonlinear analysis needs to be considered in order to provide further insight into the underlying neural mechanism associated with emotion-related human behavior. Thus, for a closer look into the emotion-movement interaction, it is necessary to observe emotion related movements from the perspective of nonlinear dynamical system; accordingly we sought to investigate how emotional stimuli alter movement patterns related with dynamic complex variability during a stationary cycle ergometer task.

Twenty two healthy young subjects (male 13, female 9) volunteered in this study. They performed cycle pedaling movement in response to emotional stimuli (viewing pictures). Six emotional categories were selected based upon the combination of emotional arousal (i.e., high vs. low) and valence (i.e., pleasant, unpleasant, neutral). Through the motion analysis system, we calculated pedaling acceleration, which in turn enabled the investigation of the dynamical complexity of the acceleration patterns measured by the nonlinear analysis technique.

Results indicated a main effect of emotion on dynamical complexity (p<.05). Particularly, results further indicated significantly less dynamical complexity of pedaling acceleration when participants were viewing erotic images, in comparison to happy faces (p<.05), sad faces (p<.05). In other words, regardless of the valence of the emotions, low arousal emotions exhibited significant difference with when viewing erotic images. Interestingly, such effects were not observed amongst high arousal images such that erotic image viewing did not significantly affect dynamical complexity in comparison to the attack image. In sum, viewing an erotic image seems to especially affect pedaling movement and hence the dynamical complexity.

12116

Pedro Lemebel’s “Mad Desire”. Urban Rhetoric, Memory, and AIDS

This paper focuses on a selection of urban chronicles that deal with AIDS, mainly during the 80's and 90’s. gathered in “Loco Afán. Crónicas de sidario” / translated as “Mad Desire. Chronicles of Sidario” (1996) of the Chilean author Pedro Lemebel. This paper explores how the disease metastasized into a textual illness, confounding literary genres and aesthetics, where there is no distinction between life and fiction, where the presence of death a starring role, and announcing, though the experimental nature of the writing, that it was time to shift the paradigm. The body with AIDS reflects and disturbs the social body through the confounded body of writing. The threat and crisis experienced by individuals infected by AIDS conferred on their literary narrative a performative power because fiction becomes politicized through the AIDS discourse, serving as a vehicle for other marginalized discourses: sexual, colonial, social, ethnic and racial, empowering them. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.4)

12104

Convenience store density as a predictor of child weight change in a rural behavioral lifestyle intervention

Current estimates indicate that 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese. The “obesegenic environment” has been proposed to play a role in the development and maintenance of overweight. For example, greater density of fast food locations and convenience stores has been linked to increased likelihood of obesity in both children and adults. This has been historically understudied in rural areas, which is particularly concerning given that rural youth are more likely to be overweight than suburban or urban youth. Currently, family lifestyle interventions have been shown to improve weight status among youth in rural areas, however it is not clear if environmental factors such as convenience store locations influence the effectiveness of these interventions. The current study utilized data from a randomized control trial looking at a behavioral weight loss intervention for rural youth. Results indicated that higher density of convenience stores was associated with weight gain among waitlist-control participants, but was unrelated to weight change in the treatment condition. These results may indicate that lifestyle interventions mitigate the negative influence of the environment on child health. However, additional research regarding how children interact with their environment in the context of interventions to improve health is warranted. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 16.3)

12091

The rain on cane falls mainly on the plain? Modelling monthly rainfall in Mauritius

Reliable rainfall data are critical inputs to models used for climate change impact assessments, water resources planning, and management, design of hydraulic works and urban development. The variability and uncertainty associated with rainfall estimates have considerable implications on model parameter estimation and calibration, which may lead to a large degree of uncertainty in the results. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are highly dependent on rainfall, more sensitive, and have a lower adaptive capacity to climate change than mainland countries yet robust scientific evidence of climate change on islands is limited. Extensive hydrometeorological records exist in Mauritius, offering a unique opportunity for applied research on rainfall distribution and modelling. Spatial regression analyses are used to model annual and monthly rainfall averages in Mauritius over the period 2000-2011, and to derive a physical basis for understanding spatial patterns in rainfall. The resulting models are subsequently used distribute point measurements of monthly rainfall on a regular grid, a data format which can be readily incorporated into hydrological, crop production, epidemiological, and urban planning models. The proposed methodology captures what is currently understood about the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall in this mountainous sub-tropical location, giving us greater confidence in the reliability of the new rainfall data. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 21.7)

12075

Modeling anthrax risk in bull elk, Cervus elaphus, using summer resource selection

Anthrax, caused by the spore forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, is a disease that can be transmitted between humans and animals throughout the world. In North America, anthrax outbreaks occur in livestock and increasingly wildlife species. An injectable vaccine is a feasible management strategy for livestock; however, vaccine administration in wildlife is untenable. The most effective form of management in wildlife is surveillance and decontamination of carcasses. Successful management is critical, as untreated carcasses can create infectious zones increasing risk for other susceptible hosts. This study focused on informing management in a re-emerging anthrax zone in southwest Montana. In 2008, a large anthrax outbreak primarily affected a managed bison, Bison bison bison, herd and free ranging bull elk, Cervus elephus, on a large private ranch. Following the outbreak, we initiated a wildlife telemetry study, using GPS collars, on elk and bison to evaluate resource selection during the anthrax season. Bull elk habitat preferences during the anthrax season were modeled and mapped across the study area. Preferred habitats were overlaid on ecological niche model-based estimates of B. anthracis presence. Collared elk spent considerable time on public and private land. We found significant overlap between landscapes with a high probability of bull elk use and B. anthracis potential. These regions of overlap are broadly spread over the private ranch, other private lands, and federally owned lands. Our results suggest that anthrax management must be a collaborative effort between public and private stakeholders with diverse land use interests. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 14.2)

12061

Title 1 Middle School Administrators’ Beliefs and Choices About Using Corporal Punishment and Exclusionary Discipline

The federal government, educational organizations, and researchers are calling for a transformation of all school discipline practices. This study fits within this national context by focusing on how school administrators in Title I middle schools determine which punishments to assign in response to students’ challenging behaviors. (Title I refers to schools that have a large portion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds.) We interviewed 27 administrators across Florida from schools allowing corporal punishment. Although many school systems have guidelines for determining punishments in an effort to take an objective and systematic approach to discipline, we found that administrators’ choices were shaped by their own upbringing, their experiences as parents, the requirements of their jobs, the expectations of students’ parents, and fears of reprisal. When dealing with students’ challenging behaviors, administrators expressed simultaneous desires to develop the child (e.g., teaching the student other ways s/he could have handled the situation) while also deterring future misbehavior (e.g., giving a punishment unpleasant enough to! make the student not misbehave again). Although they did not identify a tension between these goals, they described their decision-making as emotional work in which they frequently make compromises and decisions that are contradictory. The study has implications for the ways in which administrators view and use various punishments, including the need to view corporal punishment as only one form of punitive discipline. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 14.6)

12045

Soil organic nitrogen mineralization and enzyme activities as indicators of nutrient impacts in the Florida Everglades

Additions of nutrients into wetlands can increase decomposition of plant and soil material by increasing soil microorganism processing of these materials. Nitrogen is a nutrient needed by plants and soil microorganisms. By increasing other available nutrients, such as phosphorus, the demand for nitrogen is increased. The increased demand in nitrogen was measure in two ways- looking at the total amount of nitrogen present and how fast this nitrogen is decomposed as well as looking at microorganism products that are released into the soil to aid in decomposition. Faster decomposition has led to a change in the types of nitrogen found in the soil from easily usable forms of nitrogen to harder to use forms of nitrogen. The shift in the type of nitrogen present could have significant effects, for example, on the Everglades restoration even with efforts to reduce phosphorus input to the Everglades. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 13.9)

12027

The Dangers of Music in George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss

The conference theme is "Victorian Sense and the Senses," and I will discuss Maggie Tulliver's (the protagonist) physical reaction to music in George Eliot's Mill on the Floss. I argue that dance (and other bodily reactions to music) granted a kind of freedom for Victorian women, one that allowed them to express their otherwise repressed sexuality. I pay particular attention to the waltz in this paper: Maggie's reluctance to dance it, the description of the dancers who are dancing the waltz (or those who would like to), and the interaction during the waltz between Maggie and Stephen Guest (a male love interest in the story). These descriptions in the novel signal a deeper cultural resistance to the newly emerging waltz that was seen (at the time) as risqué and unsuitable, especially for young and unmarried women. The likely reason behind this is two-fold: unlike previous ballroom dances, the woman kept the same partner throughout the dance and she was in a close embrace with her partner as they waltzed. Therefore, I will examine Eliot’s treatment of the waltz which demonstrates a resistance to the policing of women’s bodies and conduct by depicting a woman whose sexuality cannot be contained or controlled. (Flesh-Kincaid Grade Level: 17.8)