Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item The Role of Age and Bilingualism on Perception of Vocoded Speech(2020) Waked, Arifi Noman; Goupell, Matthew J; Ratner, Nan; Hearing and Speech Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the role of age and bilingualism on perception of vocoded speech in order to determine whether bilingual individuals, children, and bilingual individuals with later ages of second language acquisition show greater difficulties in vocoded speech perception. Measures of language skill and verbal inhibition were also examined in relation to vocoded speech perception. Two studies were conducted, each of which had two participant language groups: Monolingual English speakers and bilingual Spanish-English speakers. The first study also explored the role of age at the time of testing by including both monolingual and bilingual children (8-10 years), and monolingual and bilingual adults (18+ years). As such, this study included four total groups of adult and child language pairs. Participants were tested on vocoded stimuli simulating speech as perceived through an 8-channel CI in conditions of both deep (0-mm shift) and shallow (6-mm shift) insertion of the electrode array. Between testing trials, participants were trained on the more difficult, 6-mm shift condition. The second study explored the role of age of second language acquisition in native speakers of Spanish (18+ years) first exposed to English at ages ranging from 0 to 12 years. This study also included a control group of monolingual English speakers (18+ years). This study examined perception of target lexical items presented either in isolation or at the end of sentences. Stimuli in this study were either unaltered or vocoded to simulate speech as heard through an 8-channel CI at 0-mm shift. Items presented in isolation were divided into differing levels of difficulty based on frequency and neighborhood density. Target items presented at the ends of sentences were divided into differing levels of difficulty based on the degree of semantic context provided by the sentence. No effects of age at testing or age of acquisition were found. In the first study, there was also no effect of language group. All groups improved with training and showed significant improvement between pre- and post-test speech perception scores in both conditions of shift. In the second study, all participants were significantly negatively impacted by vocoding; however, bilingual participants showed greater difficulty in perception of vocoded lexical items presented in isolation relative to their monolingual peers. This group difference was not found in sentence conditions, where all participants significantly benefited from greater semantic context. From this, we can conclude that bilingual individuals can make use of semantic context to perceive vocoded speech similarly to their monolingual peers. Neither language skills nor verbal inhibition, as measured in these studies, were found to significantly impact speech perception scores in any of the tested conditions across groups.Item Gender differences in emotion identification among young children(2017) Mulder, Blakely; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Gender differences in emotion competence, including emotion identification, are held in popular belief but are inconsistently supported in the research. Emotion identification (EID) is defined as one’s understanding of the experience and expression of emotion, as conveyed through the labeling of the emotions oneself or another person is experiencing. This study investigated gender differences in EID using both the traditional method of comparing scores on a structured task of emotion identification and a comparison of girls’ and boys’ patterns of responding. An ANCOVA was used to compare girls’ and boys’ scores on a task of Situational EID across age groups, while children’s response patterns were analyzed using chi-squares. Results found few effects due to gender, but many effects due to age. Results are framed in context of the biological and social factors that impact emotion identification.Item Ruins and Wrinkles: Revaluing Age through Architecture(2014) Moore, Lucy Eleanor; Lamprakos, Michele; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this thesis I argue that an architecture that selectively intervenes in the aging landscape to provide opportunities for regeneration and mentorship can weaken our societal divisions. I tested this hypothesis in the context of an adaptive reuse, multi-generational, mixed use design for the Bailey Power Plant, Factory 60, and their surroundings: the former R.J. Reynolds tobacco district in my hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After a close study of the site's history and its urban morphology, I propose a design based on the concept of urban regeneration in the form of reclamation, adaptation, and mentorship established through a system of green infrastructure that weaves existing neighborhoods into new diverse, multi-generational communities, housed within existing but altered architecture.Item Circulating biomarkers of nitro-oxidative stress in young and older active and inactive men(2010) Bjork, Lori; Hagberg, James M; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Oxidative stress markers may be novel factors contributing to cardiovascular (CVD) risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of long-term exercise, age, and their interaction on the plasma levels of the oxidative stress markers oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), nitrotyrosine, and myeloperoxidase (MPO), and to investigate whether these levels correlated with plasma NOx levels. Older (62 ± 2 yr) active (n=12) men who had exercised regularly for over 30 years and young (25 ± 4 yr) active (n=7) men who had exercised regularly for over 3 years were matched to older (n=11) and young (n=8) inactive males. Young subjects showed lower plasma nitrotyrosine levels than older subjects (P = 0.047). Young inactive subjects had higher ox-LDL levels than either the young active (P = 0.042) or the older active (P = 0.041) subjects. In addition, plasma oxidative stress levels, particularly ox-LDL, were correlated with various conventional CVD risk factors, and in older subjects were associated with Framingham risk score (r = 0.49, P = 0.015). The study found no relationships between plasma markers of oxidative stress and plasma NOx levels. The findings suggest that a sedentary lifestyle may be associated with higher ox-LDL levels and that the levels of oxidative stress markers may contribute to CVD risk.Item Relational Aggression Among Girls and Boys with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders in a Special School Setting(2005-12-04) Sutch, Zina B; Harris, Karen R.; Special Education; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to determine if two factors, relational aggression (RA) and overt aggression (OA), emerge using the Children's Social Behavior Scale - Self Report (CSBS-S) with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) in a special school setting; to determine if students with EBD exhibit relation aggression (RA) or overt aggression (OA), as measured by the CSBS-S; and to determine if there was a relationship between these types of aggression and three variables: age, gender and IQ. The classroom teacher administered the CSBS-S to 130 students with EBD, ages seven to twenty years old, in their special school classrooms during the school day. Although RA and OA did not emerge as two distinct factors with this population, two new factors did emerge and were identified as verbal/physical aggression (VPA) and exclusion type aggression (EXA). VPA included all overt, physical and verbal behaviors and EXA included only behaviors in which a target child was excluded from the group. Students with EBD differentiated between all overt physical and verbal aggressive behaviors and exclusionary behaviors. A possible implication of these results is that students with EBD do not differentiate between RA and OA and view all aggression, with the exception of exclusion, as a single type of aggression. Students with EBD did exhibit RA and OA. However the percentage differences between genders was not significant and the means and standard deviations of scores were similar, suggesting that in this setting, with these students, both boys and girls are similarly aggressive. IQ was a significant predictor for RA, OA, and VPA, while age was only a significant predictor for OA. The relationships between IQ and the four types of aggressions was negative which implied that as IQ increased, these three aggressions decreased. Although the CSBS-S was not a valid measure of RA and OA with students with EBD, two new variables were identified, VPA and EXA. It was recommended that further studies include interviews, focus groups and observations in order to better determine how students, especially girls, with EBD differentiate and perceive aggression.Item DNA SEQUENCE VARIATION IN THE PROMOTER REGION OF THE VEGF GENE: IMPACTS ON VEGF GENE EXPRESSION AND MAXIMAL OXYGEN CONSUMPTION(2005-07-29) Prior, Steven John; Roth, Stephen M; Kinesiology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Maximal oxygen consumption (Vo2max) is inversely associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality and is responsive to aerobic exercise training. A portion of the increase in Vo2max with aerobic exercise training can be attributed to an increase in skeletal muscle capillarity (i.e., angiogenesis), which contributes to increased blood flow and oxygen extraction in working skeletal muscle. One contributing factor to exercise-induced angiogenesis is vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), as it is an endothelial cell proliferation and migration factor that is upregulated by acute aerobic exercise. Significant variability has been observed in VEGF protein levels, VEGF gene expression, skeletal muscle capillarity, and Vo2max before and after aerobic exercise training. Additionally, variability is found in the DNA sequence of the gene encoding VEGF. Variation in the VEGF gene has the ability to impact VEGF gene expression and VEGF protein level and because of the relationship between VEGF, angiogenesis, and Vo2max, we hypothesized that variation in the VEGF gene is related to VEGF gene expression in human myoblasts, plasma VEGF level, and Vo2max before and after aerobic exercise training. The present report shows that VEGF promoter region haplotype impacts VEGF gene expression in human myoblasts in vitro. It was also found that VEGF promoter region haplotype was associated with Vo2max in older men and women before and after exercise training in a manner that is consistent with the results of the VEGF gene expression experiments. Additionally, we found that plasma VEGF level was not associated with VEGF promoter region haplotype, nor did plasma VEGF level correlate with baseline Vo2max or the change in Vo2max with aerobic exercise training. To date, we are the first to report that VEGF promoter region haplotype impacts VEGF gene expression in human myoblasts and is associated with Vo2max. These results have potential implications for aerobic exercise training and may also contribute to the understanding of the function of the VEGF promoter region in different cell types. Furthermore, these results may prove relevant in the study of pathological conditions which can be affected by angiogenesis, namely obesity, cancer, coronary artery disease, and peripheral artery disease.