Over the past sixty years, many cities in the United States have experienced the evaporation of independently owned neighbourhood grocery stores and the proliferation of large, full-service suburban supermarkets, leaving behind 'grocery gaps' in central cities. This phenomenon, influenced by powerful economic forces, has made access to healthy food a challenge for some in these food insecure areas. In addition, easy access to fast-food restaurants, higher food prices, lower quality food and the lack of transportation has contributed to glaring health disparities where higher incidences of diet-related diseases are evident in low income and largely minority communities. Often policies designed to address the negative health outcomes and co-related 'grocery gaps' focus on availability, affordability and quality of food in neighbourhoods. Few address other psychosocial components of food access. This mixed-methods study extends our understanding of access by exploring five dimensions of access: acceptability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability and availability in a study of four neighbourhoods in Louisville, Kentucky. Through spatial analysis, analyses of stakeholder interviews and ANOVA tests of questionnaire results, I found that the neighbourhood and living in an initiative area affected residents' perception of availability of fruits and vegetables. In addition, residents' perception of accommodation was affected by age. Race, sex, income, food cost, receiving food assistance and vehicle access did not significantly affect access as perceived by participants. Furthermore, access is enhanced through cultural norms and relationships, including relationships among corner stores, corner stores and families, and among neighbourhood residents. Successful corner store initiatives to improve access to healthy food in urban areas should include objective and perceived components of access as well as a temporal component that incorporates inter- and intra-community relationships among neighbourhood residents, corner stores and wider community stakeholders. This relationship amongst the objective, perceived and temporal components of access is conceptualised as the 'Three Pillars of Access'. Finally, this study also holds saliency for communicative action in critical theory of urban planning as a path to move us towards authentic and qualitatively deeper perspectives concerning healthy food access. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 9, 2015. / critical theory of urban planning, five dimensions of access, food desert, healthy corner store, objective access, perceived access / Includes bibliographical references. / Timothy Chapin, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; William Butler, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Keith Ihlanfeldt, University Representative; Christopher Coutts, Committee Member.

The flow field of supersonic impinging jets is known to be highly unsteady particularly for S/VTOL aircraft configuration. This can have adverse effects such as high noise levels, unsteady acoustic loads and sonic fatigue on the aircraft and surrounding structures, pavement erosion, ingestion of hot gases into the engine nacelle and lift loss of the aircraft. Jet noise from an aircraft has been a problem that significantly impacts aircraft operational procedures and adversely affects the health and safety of the personnel operating nearby and the communities surrounding airports / airbases and flight paths. In the present study, control of the highly resonant flow field associated with supersonic impinging jet by acoustic treatment at the impingement plane has been experimentally investigated. Measurements were made in the supersonic impinging jet facility at the Florida State University for a Mach 1.5 ideally expanded jet. Measurements included unsteady pressures on a surface plate near the nozzle exit and impingement plate, acoustics in the near field and beneath the impingement plane, and velocity field using particle image velocimetry. The passive control involves appropriately designed resonator panel to target discrete impinging tones and broadband noise. Results show that this technique is very effective in attenuating impinging tones and their harmonics in addition to significant broadband reduction. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 3, 2015. / Acoustic Feedback Loop, Acoustic Treatment, Impinging Jet, Passive Control, STOVL / Includes bibliographical references. / Rajan Kumar, Professor Directing Thesis; Chiang Shih, Committee Member; William Oates, Committee Member.

Our work builds on that of Barbot and Fenley to generalize Bonatti and Langevin's famous construction of a graph manifold with pseudo-Anosov flow in which all Seiftert fibered pieces of the torus decomposition are periodic. We provide infinitely many new examples of such graph manifolds, as well as a complete classification -- up to Seifert invariant -- in the case that each Seiftert fibered piece is orientable and the flow is Anosov. We further demonstrate that the singularities of the flow are not rigid but can rather be "rearranged", or even removed, without affecting the ambient manifold. To build our graph manifolds and model the pseudo-Anosov flows that they support, we define and construct combinatorial objects known as flow graphs. We study these flow graphs and the surfaces, called fat graphs (or ribbon graphs), that retract onto them. In particular, we study flow graphs with the additional conditions needed to generate pseudo-Anosov flows from the combinatorial data that the flow graphs provide, and classify the surfaces that admit flow graphs with these additional requirements. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Mathematics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 18, 2015. / fat graph, graph manifold, pseudo-Anosov flow, ribbon graph / Includes bibliographical references. / Sergio Fenley, Professor Directing Dissertation; Laura Reina, University Representative; Eriko Hironaka, Committee Member; Wolfgang Heil, Committee Member; Washington Mio, Committee Member.

This study explores whether or not tropical cyclone (TC) structure information may be retrieved from satellite total ozone observations and how to link total ozone with analysis fields for potential application to TC vortex initialization schemes. Satellite total ozone retrievals from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), the second Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME-2), the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) are used in this study. The study is divided into two portions: updating the quality control (QC) scheme for the AIRS total ozone data and examining applications of total ozone data in TC analyses. A modified QC scheme for AIRS total ozone is proposed to identify erroneous data while avoiding removal of potential useful data, as well as to keep the data consistent with a numerical prediction model. The modified QC scheme produces smaller bias and standard deviation of total ozone relative to the original AIRS QC scheme with less data being removed. Since ultraviolet (UV) retrieved total ozone generally suffers less cloud contamination, GOME-2 total ozone is used to examine possible TC structures captured by the data. All the TCs in the 2010-2012 Atlantic Hurricane seasons are used. Detailed comparisons of total ozone from GOME-2 and geopotential heights on isentropic surfaces from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Interim Reanalysis are carried out for the representative case of Hurricane Earl (2010). It is shown that GOME-2 total ozone can capture the characteristics of the storm center including the eye region and spiral bands. Changes in total ozone can also reveal the variations of the storm intensity. Alternatively, locally elevated total ozone in the hurricane eye region can be used to identify the upper tropospheric storm center, depending on the stage and the radius of the maximum winds of the storm. Further, the distribution of total ozone shows that the isentropic geopotential heights may have misplaced the vortex center. Total ozone and the 'aligned' geopotential heights at isentropic levels tend to form a linear relationship. Total ozone and geopotential heights correlate better in isentropic level range of 330K to 345K than at other isentropic levels, indicating better inference of the geopotential heights from total ozone at these isentropic levels. Stronger storms tend to have larger correlations of total ozone and geopotential heights at nearly all isentropic levels examined in this study. Inter-satellite calibration is shown to be necessary for better use of ozone observations in TC applications. A general inter-satellite total ozone calibration is carried out during August of 2012 with total ozone data from the four instruments. Total ozone from different instruments shows a dependence on cloud fraction, solar zenith angle (SZA), geo-location, and possibly aerosols. Overall, GOME-2, OMI and OMPS ozone observations agree well globally for both clear-sky and cloudy conditions, whereas AIRS shows large relative differences in both the southern Polar Regions and in the 30S-30N tropical regions. The large relative errors in the southern Polar Regions are associated with large AIRS SZAs, while the large relative errors in the 30S-30N zone may be caused by aerosol contamination and high cirrus clouds. Latitudinally varying coefficients are derived to remove large, zonally varying biases. Hurricane Michael (2012) is chosen to illustrate the resulting impacts of the inter-satellite total ozone calibrations on an individual TC's structure information. It is shown that the transformed observations are more comparable spatially and radially than the original ones. The impacts of the calibrated total ozone on the regression models linking isentropic geopotential heights and total ozone formed from all the TCs are examined. The calibration improves the performance of AIRS regression models at nearly all isentropic levels by increasing the explained variance and decreasing the root-mean-square-error (RMSE), while it does not change much with the regression models for OMI and GOME-2. Overall, stronger storms tend to have larger inference of geopotential heights at all the isentropic levels from these total ozone observations before and after the inter-satellite calibration. The inter-satellite total ozone calibration improves the comparability among different regression models. The resulting more consistent regression models based on TC's intensities can provide more consistent initial analysis fields from different total ozone observations for potential hurricane vortex initialization application. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 9, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Ellingson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Xiaoming Wang, University Representative; Robert Hart, Committee Member; Vasubandhu Misra, Committee Member; Guosheng Liu, Committee Member.

Precise knowledge of parton distribution functions (PDFs) is necessary to the accurate calculation of QCD observables initiated by hadrons. The deep inelastic scattering (DIS) and lepton pair production (LPP) processes are primary sources of information on PDFs. Recent global fits for PDFs have used DIS data from the large Bjorken $x$, moderate $Q^{2}$ region. It is known that there are large logarithms in this kinematic region that can be resummed using threshold resummation techniques. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of simultaneously including DIS and LPP threshold resummation in the determinations of PDFs. The analysis includes a study of the effects of the choice of resummation prescription and of current resummation methods used in the LPP rapidity and $x_{F}$ distributions. It is demonstrated theoretically and phenomenologically that the current resummation methods for such distributions are approximations that lose accuracy at high rapidities or $x_{F}$. The unapproximated resummation formalism is extended to the $\overline{\mathrm{MS}}$ scheme in the minimal and Borel prescriptions and used in conjunction with resummation in DIS to perform a global fit. The resultant PDF sets that correspond to two choices of resummation prescription are analyzed to determine the effect of threshold resummation on PDF fits and its theoretical uncertainties. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Physics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 1, 2015. / PDF, Prescription, Resummation, Threshold / Includes bibliographical references. / Joseph F. Owens, III, Professor Directing Thesis; Ettore Aldrovandi, University Representative; Laura Reina, Committee Member; Susan Blessing, Committee Member; Winston Roberts, Committee Member.

The first two chapters of this dissertation investigate the connection between the rich theoretical environment of first price auctions and the patterns of behavior in such resulting from specific treatments in the form of social comparison feedback. In the first chapter we find that behavioral treatments we designed can be used to increase charity auction revenue. In the second chapter we find that subjects do want to compare themselves to other subjects when it is costless, though not always, and that subjects are sometimes willing to pay for the ability to compare themselves to other subjects. The third of this dissertation is an introduction to the notable research into choice in the presence of risk to date. The fourth chapter of this dissertation is a theoretical and experimental evaluation of the current state-of-the-art models of choice in the presence of risk. We find that half of our experimental subjects behave as though they have either constant relative or constant absolute risk aversion and that the behavior of nearly all subjects can be explained by a non-expected utility theory. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 7, 2015. / Includes bibliographical references. / Svetlana Pevnitskaya, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jens Grosser, University Representative; Paul Beaumont, Committee Member; R. Mark (Robert Mark) Isaac, 1954-, Committee Member.

This dissertation centers on la danza Bugabita, a rural Panamanian dance-drama expression of los moros y cristianos. It documents, analyzes, and contextualizes the music, text, choreography, and history of the festival, bringing together various types of investigation in an attempt to unpack the complex, dynamic meanings intertwined in its performance. In order to facilitate a theoretical and methodological approach that accounts for the multifaceted avenues of inquiry undertaken in the investigation of this dance-drama, I apply Renée Jacqueline Alexander's concept of "prism." In her study, Alexander applies the trope of prism to the polyvalent Panamanian identity formation that allows for the "malleability, hybridity and fluidity within their plural identities." Her model can be applied to la danza Bugabita, as it is a protean tradition that is in flux and can also be described as hybrid and malleable, both historically and contemporarily. To view la danza Bugabita through a prism, each chapter is positioned to function as a distinct refraction of the transmedial dance-drama, marking a specific framework that has impacted the tradition as it currently exists. All chapters refract each other and the overall topic, individually bringing into focus different facets and angles that allow for interplay among its themes through time and space. This approach brings the past into the present and builds connections between the diversity of perspectives as they reveal the history and performance of la danza Bugabita. As such, there is necessarily a lot of movement of chronological timeframe, geographical place, and themes between the chapters. The movements and intersections of these concepts throughout this study are organized in such a way as to ease the tension between chronology and theme, and, in many ways, reflect the way in which I became familiar with the material. In observance of the trope of prism, each chapter has a sharply focused perspective with defined frameworks to address the questions and issues that it explores. The opening chapter establishes a historical precedent and foundation of los moros y cristianos and its study, further explaining the various contemporary critical theory frameworks and diverse methodologies used in each facet of the "Bugabita prism." The second chapter reframes the historiography of the "New World" and its use of this dance-drama, which confounds the distinction between center and periphery, as I contend that peripheral areas are not marginal to the stories that matter in the larger global projections of history. The third chapter presents an ethnographic exploration of the festival that weaves together various source materials to build an integrated narrative of the dialogue, music, and choreography that is attentive to long-term processes of change. The fourth chapter corrects a misconception that conflates the local version with the Chanson de Roland. I place it in a new literary framework by tracing its textual source, and then illuminating the cultural implications that arise from this literature chain that deal with emergent ideas of race, ethnicity, religion, and identity, and its dissemination and propagation throughout the Iberian colonies. The fifth chapter brings together themes from the preceding chapters in a case study of one particular piece of material culture, la pollera, in order to contribute to the understanding of the place of la danza Bugabita within its specific historical conjecture. I disentangle themes of gender, sexuality, and race found within the tension between representations of the body and the live body in performance to demonstrate how music, dancing, and performance bring prior constructions of race and gender roles into question. The final chapter synthesizes conclusions about the history and performance of los moros y cristianos and traces its trajectory from Spain to the municipality of Bugaba, Panamá. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / April 13, 2015. / dance-drama, La Danza Bugabita, Los Moros y Cristianos, Panamanian folklore / Includes bibliographical references. / Frank Gunderson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Uzendoski, University Representative; Douglass Seaton, Committee Member; Charles E. Brewer, Committee Member; Denise Von Glahn, Committee Member.

The overall goal of this project is to better understand geologic characteristics of the Raton Basin. The Raton Basin is a Rocky Mountain foreland basin that contains Pennsylvanian through modern sedimentary rocks. The current structure of the basin is thought to have formed during the late Cretaceous through Tertiary Laramide orogeny. During this event, the basin was folded into a syncline, and steep reverse faults formed along the western edge of the basin in which Pre-Cambrian crystalline rocks of the Sangre de Cristo Range were partially thrust over the basin itself. In the Oligocene through present, the tectonic environment of the basin has been dominated by extension and extensional magmatism related to the Rio Grande Rift. A series of small plutonic bodies and more spatially extensive magmatic dikes intruded into the basin over this time interval. A high-resolution gravity transect with approximately 70 stations was conducted across the Raton Basin near the Spanish Peaks. This transect, coupled with existing data, indicate a 20 mgal negative Bouguer gravity anomaly in the northern part of the basin and a 55-60 mgal negative anomaly in the south. Gravity models of these observations indicate that the Raton Basin is approximately 3 km thick in the north and 5 km thick in the south. Also, the basin is structurally deformed into an asymmetric synform that is tightest in the central part of the basin. High-resolution magnetic measurements were also taken to better understand the structure of the numerous dikes in the region. Magnetic susceptibility measurements were used to constrain induced magnetism of the igneous rocks. However, the total field strength of magnetic anomalies associated with the dikes indicates that normal and reversed polarity remnant magnetism is also significant. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2015. / February 4, 2015. / Gravity, Magnetics, The Raton Basin / Includes bibliographical references. / David Farris, Professor Directing Thesis; James F. Tull, Committee Member; Stephen Kish, Committee Member.

Steel bands have steadily gained popularity in the United States, particularly in educational institutions like colleges and universities. The dissemination of pan has occurred from teacher to student, and in turn, by these same students becoming teachers. As pan has spread, distinctive "American" interpretations, sounds, performance practices, and cultural usages have emerged in colleges and universities, and across greater U.S. society. This dissertation is a history of the steel band movement in the United States focusing on colleges and universities, and the particular contributions and lineage of one of that movement's principal figures, Ellie Mannette. As an instrument maker, tuner, composer, performer, pedagogue, Trinidadian culture-bearer, and international ambassador of the steelpan, Mannette has left lasting contributions on the U.S. pan movement, particularly within educational institutions. Moreover, this study examines the transnational identities and portrayals of pan, including those relating to stereotypical and anti-stereotypical imagery and symbolism connected to "tropical" and "island" cultures. This dissertation explores how the legitimacy of pan is alternately supported and rejected within, and by, an American musical culture of higher education that has traditionally positioned the Western art music tradition and its associated institutions at the zenith of musical culture. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2015. / March 25, 2015. / Ellie Mannette, Steel Band, Steel Drum, Steel Pan, Tropicalism, University Steel Band / Includes bibliographical references. / Michael B. Bakan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kimberley VanWeelden, University Representative; Denise Von Glahn, Committee Member.

This study examined latent growth curve modeling in restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) in 82 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in two parent-implemented treatment conditions. Home observations were coded using the Repetitive Movement and Restricted Interest Scales (RMRIS) at four time points across nine months of the first treatment condition, and data were dichotomized to indicate presence or absence of each type of RRB. Results from an exploratory factor analysis determined that the best-fitting model of RRBs was unidimensional and included repetitive movements of the body, repetitive use of objects, excessive interest, dysregulation over change, clutching objects, and unusual sensory interests. A latent growth curve analysis was then conducted with dichotomized data and demonstrated that the latent RRB factor did not change significantly over time. Children did not vary significantly in their rate of growth or initial level of RRBs, and the frequency of RRBs at the end of treatment did not impact rate of growth. Additionally, treatment group and baseline scores on the ADOS, MSEL, and VABS-II did not uniquely predict change in RRBs over time. Examination of growth curve models for each observed variable demonstrated significant increase in sensory interests and significant decrease in excessive interest, with a marginally significant increase in repetitive speech. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2015. / October 1, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references. / Amy Wetherby, Professor Directing Thesis; Christopher Lonigan, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member.