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<p>The set of related products is referred to as a product family, and feature-modeling is a widely used technique to capture the commonalities and variabilities of a product family in terms of "features". With the growing complexity of software product families in several software industries, the development, maintenance and evolution of complex and large feature models are among the main challenges faced by feature-modeling practitioners. In particular, more sophisticated feature-modeling techniques are required to address the problems caused by unanticipated changes and crosscutting concerns in feature models.</p> <p>This thesis tackles the above challenges in feature-modeling by adopting the aspect-oriented paradigm at the feature-modeling level. I first introduce a specification language, called AO-PFA, which is an extension of the Product Family Algebra (PFA) language. I then proposed a formal verification technique to check the compatibility of aspects with their base specifications in AO-PFA. In the aspect-oriented paradigm, the process of combining aspects with base specifications is referred to as the weaving process. I finally discussed how to perform the weaving process in AO-PFA. By proposing a systematic approach to extend product family algebra with the abilities of specifying, verifying, and weaving aspects, we are able to handle the difficulties that arise from crosscutting concerns and unanticipated changes in large-scale feature models.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Three issues related to the prediction of aesthetic response of natural landscapes were investigated. First, information regarding the degree of correspondence between two conceptually different yet commonly used criteria of aesthetic response--ratings of scenic quality and preference ratings--was sought. Second, the relative efficiency of and interrelationships between predictor variables stemming from different philosophical paradigms of landscape aesthetics was of interest. Examination of such a variety of predictors towards the same criteria utilizing the same settings as stimuli had not been previously researched. Direct comparison of types to one another, and in combination as predictors, would indicate both whether different approaches were measuring similar aesthetic response variance, and in what ways they differed. Third, the extent to which a motivational choice model based in expectancy theory could predict environmental preference was of interest. This model represented an aesthetic predictor in terms of environmental utility, i.e., meaningfulness within the context of potential activity, and was thus a departure from traditional predictors based on design elements and the arrangement of physical features. Data were gathered from a total 354 subjects responding to 60 different natural landscape scenes (color slides) from a wide variety of United States' biomes. Results indicated that the two aesthetic criteria were nearly identical, both in relation to one another (r=.98) and through their correlate patterns to 33 predictor variables. Predictor variables from three paradigms: the psychophysical (physical features of the environment), the cognitive (transactional variables involving interpretive patterning of physical variables), and the experiential (environmental utility in terms of potential for activity) were all highly effective. Multiple regression equations for specific types had predicted R-Squares ranging from .47 to .84. In turn, detailed analyses of the transactional and utility variables via multiple regression (using the physical variables as predictors) indicated they could be defined by these managerially controllable terms. Finally, the environmental utility variable was examined in more detail through a variety of expectancy models. Of major interest was that environmental familiarity was a strong moderator of the utility effect, with highly familiar settings yielding more accurate prediction than unfamiliar settings. A number of managerial implications and suggestions for follow-up research are made. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

<p dir="ltr">When diagnosed with cancer, it is not uncommon for patients to turn to narratives—both fiction and non—looking for comfort or a way to make sense of their situation. When it comes to cancer on screen, we often see a romanticized version of cancer diagnosis: young sick kids falling in love, messages of going on to do amazing things after treatment, or visuals of glamorized sickness. This is not reflective of the dark thoughts that often find homes in the minds of cancer patients. And yet, little media exists to resonate with these darker narratives. Netflix’s The Midnight Club, a horror show catered toward young adults, helps to twist the pre-existing narratives surrounding cancer by utilizing the conventions of the horror genre to explore the darker sides of cancer diagnosis through storytelling. Though often uncomfortable, the show’s ability to discuss thoughts of mortality, pain, and loss in wake of terminal diagnosis is one important of discussion, as is done in this paper.</p>

The competing values of national security and civil liberties have been contested as conflicting ideas during times of national emergencies and war, in which the canonical knowledge asserts that the temporary secession of civil liberties is sometimes necessary to protect national security. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack there has been increased pressure on the U.S. government to provide safety and security, which has required Americans to accept certain restrictions on their freedoms, leading to debates about whether liberty or security should be prioritized. The increasing popularization of securitization in post 9/11 discourse justified by a perpetual state of emergency via the War on Terror, has reinforced the racialization of reified "others," specifically Muslims or people who are perceived to be descendent from the Middle East. The conceptualization of Middle Easterners as 'terrorists' and 'threats' to be securitized has been constructed by political elites and media narratives to garner support for security measures leading to the diminished civil liberties of those stereotyped as "terrorists." Using the theoretical approach of racialized "othering" and the minority threat perception, this research seeks to analyze public opinion on counterterrorism policies when the race/ethnicity and ideological motivations of perpetrators in a hypothetical terrorist attack scenario are manipulated. To investigate this premise, an online survey experiment distributed through Amazon MTurk was conducted to gather public opinion data on counterterrorism policies. Regression analyses were conducted from the 314 respondents to evaluate support amongst various social groups for the counterterrorism policies and whether or not this support was affected by the presence of either American-born, White, men motivated by the teachings of far-right extremism or American-born, men of Middle Eastern descent motivated by the teachings of Islamic extremism. Respondents were asked to evaluate two counterterrorism policies, one that required ceding the civil liberties of the public at large, and the other required ceding the civil liberties of suspected terrorists specifically – which is also referred to as the 'punitive' policy throughout the research. Overall, respondents were more likely to support the policy requiring ceding civil liberties in general, than the punitive policy that would take away the civil liberties of suspected terrorist. When factoring in survey type, respondents in general were more likely to support the punitive policy when taking the White/Far-right extremism survey and were also the most likely to support the policy requiring the public to cede their civil liberties when taking the Middle Eastern/Islamic extremism survey. The willingness to cede civil liberties increased for Black and Asian respondents with the presence of the White/Far-right extremism survey, while willingness to cede civil liberties decreased for White respondents taking the same survey. In general, conservatives were more likely to cede their civil liberties than liberals, and liberals were more likely to view counterterrorism policies as ineffective. When accounting for the effects of survey type on ideology, the results show that conservatives were the least likely to cede their civil liberties when taking the White/Far-right extremism survey, while liberals were the most likely to cede their civil liberties when taking the Middle Eastern/Islamic extremism survey. / Master of Arts / This thesis explores the role of issue framing, and threat perception on terrorism and its effects on public perception of the liberty vs. security paradigm by way of support for counterterrorism policies. Specifically, this research aims to assess whether support for counterterrorism policies by social group (focusing on race and ideology) varies when the race/ethnicity and ideological motivations of the perpetrators are manipulated in a hypothetical terrorist attack scenario. In order to test this effect, a survey experiment was conducted to gather public opinion data on counterterrorism policies which emulated the liberty/security trade-offs within the Patriot Act. The survey was distributed through the online platform Amazon MTurk which garnered 314 responses. Regression analyses were conducted to evaluate support amongst various social groups for the counterterrorism policies and whether or not this support was affected by the presence of either American-born, White, men motivated by the teachings of far-right extremism or American-born, men of Middle Eastern descent motivated by the teachings of Islamic extremism. Using the theoretical approach of "othering" and the minority threat perception that contributes to desires for increased social controls and levels of punitiveness among the public, this research evaluates respondents' willingness to cede their own civil liberties as well as their support for punitive policies that take away the civil liberties of the perpetrators based on the survey/stimuli respondents received. Overall, respondents were more likely to support the policy requiring ceding civil liberties, than support the punitive policy that would take away the civil liberties of the perpetrators. When factoring in survey type, respondents in general were more likely to support the punitive policy when taking the White/Far-right extremism survey and were also the most likely to support the policy requiring the public to cede their civil liberties when taking the Middle Eastern/Islamic extremism survey. The willingness to cede civil liberties increased for Black and Asian respondents with the presence of the White/Far-right extremism survey, while the willingness to cede civil liberties decreased for White respondents with the presence of the White/Far-right extremism survey. In general, conservatives were more likely to cede their civil liberties than liberals, and liberals were more likely to view counterterrorism policies as ineffective. When accounting for the effects of survey type on ideology, the results show that conservatives were the least likely to cede their civil liberties when taking the White/Far-right extremism survey, while liberals were the most likely to cede their civil liberties when taking the Middle Eastern/Islamic extremism survey.