Wayfinding is the method by which humans orient and navigate in space, and particularly in built environments such as cities and complex buildings, including public libraries. In order to wayfind successfully in the built environment, humans need information provided by wayfinding systems and tools, for instance architectural cues, signs, and maps. This is true of all built environments, including public libraries, but the issue is all the more important in public libraries where users already enter with information needs and possibly anxiety, which may interfere with their ability to wayfind successfully. To facilitate user wayfinding, which in turn facilitates user information seeking, public library facilities need to be designed with consideration of users' wayfinding needs, along with their information-seeking and other library-specific needs. The public library facility design literature identifies the importance of understanding user wayfinding behavior and designing around it, and this dissertation is a step toward answering that call. A single-method pilot study utilized unobtrusive observation to investigate library users' initial wayfinding behavior from the two entrances of a medium-sized public library, with the data analyzed and displayed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software (Mandel, 2010). The pilot study found certain routes to be more popular than others and suggested that such information could be gathered relatively easily and then used by the library to improve the library's wayfinding system and for marketing of library materials in high-traffic areas. However, the pilot study's largest limitation, namely the inability to ascertain any user opinions regarding their wayfinding in the library, indicated the need for a multi-method case study approach, replicating the original unobtrusive observation and adding document review of the Library's wayfinding tools such as maps and signage, intensive interviews with library users, and an expert review of findings with library staff and a library wayfinding and signage expert to gain a more comprehensive view of library user wayfinding behavior. This dissertation follows a multi-method case study research design, guided by Passini's Conceptual Framework of Wayfinding, to investigate library user wayfinding behavior from the entrance of a medium-sized public library facility. The case study design includes unobtrusive observation of library user wayfinding behavior, document review of the library's wayfinding tools, intensive interviews with library users to discuss their views on wayfinding in public libraries, and an expert review of findings with library staff and a library wayfinding and signage expert to test the validity of research findings. The researcher chose the case study design to guide this dissertation because of the ability to analyze data gathered from different methods, thereby mitigating the limitations of a single-method dissertation, strengthening the overall findings, and providing a more comprehensive view of library user wayfinding behavior than could be obtained from a single-method approach. The dissertation finds that users' wayfinding behavior is generally inconsistent over time as far as segments used to connect two given nodes, although high-traffic areas do show consistency of traffic levels. Also, of people connecting the same two nodes, some were very consistent in using the predominant segment (the one used most frequently) or other connecting segments used multiple times, but the behavior of other wayfinders was inconsistent with the majority in that they used unpopular segments to connect the two nodes. There also seems to be discrepancy between the segments and routes users are observed to utilize and those they say they utilize in navigating the entry area. Reasons for this discrepancy are unknown, but one possibility is interviewees' general difficulty in describing their entry area routes because of challenges in recalling their past behavior. Overall, it seems that users of the research site employ Passini's wayfinding styles more often than his wayfinding strategies, and two of the strategies were neither noted during unobtrusive observation nor mentioned during interviews. A possible reason for this lies in the difficulties in observing and articulating cognitive processes. Finally, although many users seem to struggle wayfinding in the library serving as research site, that does not seem to translate into recommended changes to improve this library's wayfinding system as interviewees were unlikely to indicate that any changes are needed, even after they had indicated struggling to wayfind in the facility. Ultimately, this research concludes that user wayfinding behavior in the research site is variant to some degree, but the degree to which that is so or why that is so remain unexplored. About half of observed users navigated via segments that other users also navigated, but the other half navigated via segments that they alone navigated. There does not appear to be any degree of consistency over time other than to say that user wayfinding behavior in this research site is consistently inconsistent. Additional research is necessary to compare this with user wayfinding behavior in other libraries and information organizations. Also, this research concludes that a significant amount of work remains to be done with regard to Passini's Conceptual Framework of Wayfinding (1981). This framework holds potential for explaining user wayfinding behavior, but additional research is necessary to investigate more fully the degree to which the styles and strategies are valid descriptors of how users wayfind. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library & Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / January 30, 2012. / observation, public libraries, spatial behavior, user studies, wayfinding / Includes bibliographical references. / Melissa Gross, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephen D. McDowell, University Representative; Charles R. McClure, Committee Member; Lorraine M. Mon, Committee Member.

A subpopulation of neurons in the chick cochlear nucleus, nucleus magnocellularis (NM), dies following cochlea removal. Previous studies using a "candidate molecule" approach, in which molecules known to regulate cell death in other systems are selectively investigated, have identified several proteins that are up- or down-regulated in NM following deafness. A problem with this approach, however, is that it will miss many potentially important candidates. The present study sought to perform a more complete profile of proteomics changes in response to deafferentation. Early post-hatch chicks were deafferented by a unilateral removal of the basilar papilla (cochlea) and sacrificed 3 hours, 6 hours, or 1 week later. Proteins from NM tissue on the deaf and intact side of the brain were analyzed using nanospray LC/MSE with a Waters Corp. Synapt G2 HS Mass Spectrometer, and data were processed in ProteinLynx Global SERVERTM. At each time point, several pro-survival proteins were found to be increased on the deafferented NM. Many of the proteins that were identified were related to managing ATP levels in neurons and have also been shown to be neuroprotective in other systems. Several more proteins are known to interact with and inhibit known apoptotic proteins. Here, we provide evidence for deafferentation-induced protein changes at three time points following deafferentation. We also name several proteins that are likely involved in the survivability of NM neurons following deafferentation. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 28, 2012. / auditory, cell death, cell survival, chick, mass spectrometry, proteomics / Includes bibliographical references. / Rick Hyson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Laura Keller, University Representative; Frank Johnson, Committee Member; Mohamed Kabbaj, Committee Member; Michael Kaschak, Committee Member.

Olfaction allows vertebrates to sense their chemical environment, and plays an important role in feeding behavior, reproduction, memory and learning. The first portion of the dissertation examined the signal transduction cascade in the rodent vomeronasal organ (VNO). The proteins in this cascade have been individually well-characterized over the last 20 years; however, little attention has been paid to the role of protein-protein interactions among these molecules. I found two novel binding partners for the transient receptor potential 2 channel (TRPC2), which establishes the first electrical signal in the pheromone transduction pathway, in the native VNO. Homer 1b/c was found to co-immunoprecipitate with TRPC2 and the inositol trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) from rat VNO lysates. The second new protein partner was chaperone with previously no known function in the VNOs. Receptor transporting protein 1 (RTP1) expression was investigated with immunohistochemical techniques and was localized to to the VNO sensory epithelium. RTP1 also co-immunoprecipitated with TRPC2 from rat VNO lysates and, additionally, RTP1 increased TRPC2 surface expression as measured by cell-surface biotinylation. When co-expressed with RTP1 in human embryonic kidney cells, TRPC2 formed a functional channel as measured with whole-cell electrophysiology. The second portion of this dissertation is a commentary on the function and importance of the VNO in human mate selection. The published literature on human vomeronasal function is briefly examined. With this in mind, I concluded that VNO has no role in human behavior. The last portion of this doctoral dissertation examined the role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the mouse olfactory bulb (OB). Mitral cells, the principle output cells of the OB, express tyrosine receptor kinase B (TrkB) the high-affinity BDNF receptor. OB interneurons express the low-affinity BDNF receptor, p75NTR. Following naris-occlusion more mitral cells became immunoreactive and interneurons became less BDNF immunoreactive. In the OB, only the unprocessed proBDNF was detected with immunoblot. In a slice preparation, proBDNF did not alter mitral cell excitability while mature BDNF did. Interestingly, intranasal delivery of proBDNF, but not BDNF, induced activated-caspase 3 immunoreactivity in OB interneurons and reduced tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity. Thus, BDNF modulates mitral cell excitability and proBDNF modulates interneuron markers of cell death. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / July 15, 2011. / brain-derived neurotrophic factor, mitral, olfaction, transient receptor potential channel, vomeronasal / Includes bibliographical references. / Debra Ann Fadool, Professor Directing Dissertation; Choogon Lee, University Representative; Wu-Min Deng, Committee Member; Frank Johnson, Committee Member; Michael Meredith, Committee Member.

Many genetic patterns observed within and between species are often attributed to processes that affect interpopulation genetic exchange. These patterns are often taken as evidence of the genetic processes without explicit tests of the population genetic dynamics operating within species. The first chapter of this thesis uses a population genetic approach to test Wallace's riverine barrier hypothesis, a 150-year-old theory that has largely been based on interpretation of broad scale patterns rather than focused studies of the process. This work helps clarify the definitions of many riverine hypotheses and uses a Bayesian model comparison approach to test these hypotheses in Pseudacris feriarum, the upland chorus frog, along the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee River using eleven microsatellite loci. A flood model of gene migration best explains riverine effects in this species. This model is proposed as an alternative way to think about riverine effects on gene flow that should be tested more broadly. The second chapter of this thesis builds on previous observations of reproductive character displacement and its effects on speciation. A Bayesian model testing approach is used to determine if predictions based on female choice experiments lead to population differentiation. Eleven microsatellite loci are used to model gene migration across a region of reproductive character displacement. This approach provides evidence for the genetic consequences expected under a speciation cascade model of taxon diversification. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Biological Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2012. / April 2, 2012. / migrate-n, population genetics, reproductive character displacement, river barrier, speciation, speciation cascade / Includes bibliographical references. / Emily Moriarty Lemmon, Professor Directing Thesis; Scott J. Steppan, Committee Member; Peter Beerli, Committee Member.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the rates, widths, and pitches of university double bass players' vibrato in relation to pitch height, fingers used, and tempo. Forty (N = 40) undergraduate and graduate double bass players were individually recorded performing three music exercises that were used for analyses. Each exercise was comprised of three identical excerpts that were transposed for first, fourth, and thumb positions. Excerpts in first and fourth positions utilized fingers 1, 2, and 4, while excerpts in thumb position utilized fingers 1, 2, and 3. The overall mean vibrato rate and width of university double bass students in this study was 5.17 Hz and 19 cents. A comparison of the vibrato rates and widths of participants' 1st and 2nd fingers revealed that the 2nd finger (5.22 Hz, 21 cents) used both significantly faster and wider vibrato than the 1st finger (5.07 Hz, 18 cents). Additionally, the descriptive data from this study revealed that the 3rd and 4th fingers vibrated faster than both the 1st and 2nd fingers, and they had a wider vibrato width than the 1st finger, but a narrower width than the 2nd finger. The 3rd finger had the overall fastest recorded vibrato rate for any finger in any position. Analysis of vibrato data also indicated that university double bassists use significantly faster vibrato rates as they perform in progressively higher registers. When comparing the combined mean vibrato rates of the 1st and 2nd fingers, participants vibrated at 4.88 Hz in first position, 5.06 Hz in fourth position, and 5.50 Hz in thumb position. Vibrato widths also increased with pitch register. Mean vibrato widths in first position (16 cents) were significantly narrower than mean vibrato widths in both fourth position (21 cents) and thumb position (22 cents). Tempo also significantly affected mean vibrato rates and width. Musical examples played with a fast tempo were faster and wider (5.35 Hz, 20 cents) than musical examples played with a slow tempo (4.94 Hz, 19 cents). Additionally, analysis indicated that university double bassists vibrate almost equally above and below the in-tune pitch. Using the descriptive data for all fingers in all position, the total difference found between mean pitches of vibrated and non-vibrated tones was 1 cent. Music educators can use these results to create more consistent descriptions of double bass vibrato, and potentially, more efficient methods for teaching vibrato. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 13, 2012. / Double Bass, Orchestra, String Instrument, String Music Education, Tempo, Vibrato / Includes bibliographical references. / Alice-Ann Darrow, Professor Directing Dissertation; Melanie Punter, University Representative; John Geringer, Committee Member; Steven Kelly, Committee Member.

This dissertation is an examination of the ontological status of global character traits. Do global character traits exist? If so, what are they and how do they work? Globalism represents the most intuitive and widespread conception of global character traits. According to this conception, possession of robust character traits explains systematic behavioral manifestations. However, as the work of Gilbert Harman and Jon Doris demonstrates, Globalism has problems. The social psychological behavioral empirical literature fails to vindicate the behavioral expectations that come with Globalism. Essentially, we aren't cross-situationally consistent, our behavior in one trait-relevant situation is not strongly correlated with our behavior in a different trait-relevant situation. This literature has led to the emergence of Situationism, the social psychological theory that powerful situational features are primarily causally efficacious in the performance of behavior. It certainly appears as though Situationism is true, and our behavior is conditioned by surprising features of the situation, subtle features that are significantly more powerful than we intuitively believe. Accordingly, I present my own view, Practice-Driven Globalism as a solution to the problem presented by Situationism. Global character traits are illusory, yet they are very useful posits. These traits have epistemic, functional, normative, and educational utility. They play a vital role in the core human practices of casting a conception of the self and others, constructing a narrative, making moral judgments, and providing moral education. Practice-Driven Globalism is a hybrid view; Someone (S) should use Globalism as the default position to explain and evaluate behavior (B) unless S knows, or has good reasons to believe, that situational features are primarily causally efficacious in the performance of B. Just as a NASA scientist utilizes Newtonian mechanics to launch a satellite and then Relativistic mechanics in order to use that satellite for GPS purposes, we should use Globalism in some instances and Situationism in others. Practice-Driven Globalism enhances our empirically informed moral psychology by meeting the challenge of Situationism while providing grounds for the maintenance of our old framework for certain purposes. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 31, 2011. / Gilbert Harman, Globalism, John Doris, Moral psychology, Situationism, Utility / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael Bishop, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Joiner, University Representative; Michael Ruse, Committee Member; Marie Fleming, Committee Member.

This dissertation examines the association between adolescent romantic relationships and psychological well-being. I argue that heterosexual adolescents with different relationship statuses (dating and non-dating) and in different relationship types (interracial and same-race) tend to experience disparate levels of stress and support from their parents, friends, and school contexts. Differences in exposure to social stressors and the availability of coping resources, in turn, contribute to disparities in an adolescent's psychological well-being by their romantic relationship statuses and relationship types. As such, I use the theoretical framework of the stress process model to test several hypotheses to explain differences in adolescent well-being as indicated by their self-reported depression, anxiety, and positive well-being scores. For this research I hypothesized that: 1) there are relationship status differences in adolescents' psychological well-being such that same-race daters and interracial daters will have lower levels of psychological well-being in terms of higher self-reported scores for symptoms of depression, anxiety, but lower positive well-being, than their non-dating peers; 2) there are relationship type differences in adolescent well-being such that interracial daters will report lower levels of psychological well-being than their peers in same-race relationships; 3) disparities in psychological well-being by relationship status and relationship type will be explained by differences in the quality of parent-child relationships, friendship networks, and school-related factors; 4) the association between relationship type and psychological well-being will vary by race and gender; and 5) the school-related factors that affect psychological well-being will vary for same-race and interracial daters. In Chapter 2, I find that both same-race and interracial daters report higher scores for symptoms of depression and anxiety than their non-dating peers. Interracial daters also report higher scores for symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as lower levels of positive well-being than their counterparts in same-race relationships. Emotional family support and the quality of parent-child relationships partially mediate the disparities in symptoms of depression and anxiety by both relationship status and type. There are no gender differences, but I found racial disparities that reveal Asians are less adversely affected by interracial dating than are Whites. In Chapter 3, I found that compared to non-daters, adolescents in same-race and interracial partnerships report significantly higher scores for symptoms of depression and anxiety, but interracial daters also report lower levels of positive well-being. Moreover, interracial daters report more symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as lower levels of positive well-being than same-race daters. Friendship network structure and integration partially explain disparities in well-being by relationship status and type. Well-being does not vary, however, by the individual's race or gender. Finally, the findings in Chapter 4 reveal that, averaged across schools, both same-race and interracial daters report higher scores for symptoms of depression and anxiety than the average non-dating adolescent. There are also relationship type differences across schools that reveal interracial daters score higher for symptoms of depression and anxiety but have lower levels of positive well-being than the average same-race relationship. School-related factors do little to explain disparities in well-being across schools by relationship status and relationship type. Well-being for same-race and interracial daters, however, are affected by different aggregate-level school factors. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / May 31, 2012. / Adolescents, Family, Friends, Psychological Wellbeing, Romantic Relationship Type, School / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathryn Tillman, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kay Pasley, University Representative; Karin Brewster, Committee Member; Koji Ueno, Committee Member.

With the aim of improving information retrieval system design, this study explored the effect of cognitive load on the propensity to reformulate queries during information seeking on the Web, specifically the effect of manipulating three affective components that contribute to cognitive load--mental demand, temporal demand, and frustration A significant difference in the propensity of query reformulation behavior was found between searchers exposed to cognitive load manipulations and searchers who were not exposed. Those exposed to cognitive load manipulations, namely, mental demand, temporal demand, and frustration, made 2.18 times fewer search queries than searchers not exposed. Furthermore, the NASA-TLX cognitive load scores of searchers who were exposed to the three cognitive load manipulations were higher than those of searchers who were not exposed. However, the propensity of query reformulation behavior did not differ across task types. The findings suggest that a dual-task method and NASA-TLX assessment serve as good indicators of cognitive load. Because the findings show that cognitive load hinders a searcher's interaction with information search tools, this study concludes by recommending strategies for reducing cognitive load when designing information systems, or user interfaces. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Library and Information Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2012. / April 3, 2012. / Cognitive load, Cognitive load manipulation, Information retrieval, Mental workload, NASA-TLX, Query reformulation / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen Burnett, Professor Directing Dissertation; Neil Charness, University Representative; Gary Burnett, Committee Member; Besiki Stvilia, Committee Member.

There have been calls for sport management scholars to work towards an enhanced understanding of how sport can promote social good (Chalip, 2006; Zeigler, 2007). One way to accomplish this is to examine the benefits of sport participation available to both individuals and society as a whole. Developing an understanding of the benefits of sport participation is of clear interest to practitioners, scholars and governments (Nicholson, Hoye & Houlihan, 2011). It is argued here that examining the way in which benefits of participant-based sport are perceived ought to be a focus of sport scholars. An instrument designed to measure the importance that both sport participants and non-sport participants place on the physical, sociological and psychological benefits that are potentially attainable through sport participation is therefore incorporated in the research. The instrument measures a multi-dimensional construct which is conceptualized as an instrumental attitude and fit into a larger sport participation behavioral model. The importance of the construct is based on the rationale that attitudes about the potential benefits of sports should affect the future probability of engaging in sporting activity (Shoham & Rose, 2000). The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) serves as the conceptual framework for this investigation. The research also includes multi-dimensional motivational profiles developed in line with self-determination theory. The research topic is significant because North American citizens are increasingly inactive (Jones, Sinclair, Rhodes & Courneya, 2004), and marketing efforts related to sport participation have not generally been successful (Graham & Graham, 2008). The research is consistent with a social marketing perspective because of its focus on benefits to individuals and society. The objective of this research is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of the underlying psychological processes associated with sport participation. Results of the study provide evidence supporting the reconceptualized instrumental attitude construct and selected paths within a TPB framework. Managerial implications and ideas for future research are provided in the concluding chapter of this document. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Sport Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / October 3, 2011. / Attitude, Benefits, Participation, Sport / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffery James, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robert Eklund, University Representative; Michael Mondello, Committee Member; Y. K. Kim, Committee Member.

We propose a novel Riemannian framework for analyzing orientation distribution functions (ODFs), or their probability density functions (PDFs), in HARDI data sets for use in comparing, interpolating, averaging, and denoising PDFs. This is accomplished by separating shape and orientation features of PDFs, and then analyzing them separately under their own Riemannian metrics. We formulate the action of the rotation group on the space of PDFs, and define the shape space as the quotient space of PDFs modulo the rotations. In other words, any two PDFs are compared in: (1) shape by rotationally aligning one PDF to another, using the Fisher-Rao distance on the aligned PDFs, and (2) orientation by comparing their rotation matrices. This idea improves upon the results from using the Fisher-Rao metric in analyzing PDFs directly, a technique that is being used increasingly, and leads to geodesic interpolations that are biologically feasible. This framework leads to definitions and efficient computations for the Karcher mean that provide tools for improved interpolation and denoising. We demonstrate these ideas, using an experimental setup involving several PDFs. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Statistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2011. / August 3, 2011. / Fisher-Rao, HARDI, Interpolation, ODF, Orientation, Riemannian Framework / Includes bibliographical references. / Anuj Srivastava, Professor Directing Dissertation; Eric Klassen, University Representative; Wei Wu, Committee Member; Xufeng Niu, Committee Member.