Cobia represents one of the most attractive candidate species for aquaculture in the history of the industry. With rapid growth rate, high survival rates, and delectable flesh, cobia possess highly desirable characteristics for a cultured fish. Although interest in this species is high, issues pertaining to nutritional requirements must be resolved if this animal is to be produced sustainably. Cobia are high level marine carnivores and, as such, require relatively high dietary protein levels which usually are met through the use of fish meal. Fish meal supplies have become limited and costly, and alternate proteins must be utilized if future aquaculture production is to meet demand. Moreover, the movement towards organic aquaculture production presents additional challenges with respect to fish meal inclusion in aquafeeds designed for cobia. This thesis summarizes research pertaining to fish meal replacement in cobia aquafeeds with organically certifiable alternate protein sources. Initial trials with an organically certifiable yeast-based protein source indicated that up to 25% of the fish meal could be replaced without detrimental impacts to growth rates, feed efficiency, or biological indices. Substitution levels above this resulted in decreased performance in all measured parameters. Based on these results and other research however, it is hypothesized that fish meal replacement levels could be increased to 40% without detrimental impacts upon production characteristics. In a subsequent study, multiple organically certifiable alternate protein sources were investigated for their ability to replace fish meal in aquafeeds for juvenile cobia. A 25% inclusion level of yeast-based protein was used along with a 40% inclusion level. The remaining alternate proteins (soybean meal, soybean isolate, and hemp) also were included at 40% of dietary protein. Two additional diets were formulated to contain all four alternate proteins with or without 8% fish meal. Lack of fish meal resulted in poor survival, while the 8% inclusion of fish meal resulted in decreased overall performance compared to fish fed the fish meal control and the diets with up to 40% organic protein source. When included at 40% of fish meal replacement, these alternate protein sources led to returned excellent weight gain, feed efficiencies, and other production characteristics when compared to the 100% fish meal control diet. I hypothesized that higher inclusion level of alternate protein sources could be achieved with specific amino acid supplementation. Two additional trials involved the use of the yeast-based protein with supplementation by the amino acids methionine, tryptophan, and taurine. Diets containing 50 and 75% of the yeast-based protein were investigated with the addition of methionine (0.3%) and tryptophan (0.2%), with and without taurine (0.5%). Taurine significantly and dramatically increased production performance. A final trial re-evaluated that ability of the yeast-based protein to completely replace fish meal with supplemental taurine (0.5%). While growth at the 50% inclusion level equaled that of the control, at higher levels (75 and 100%), growth was reduced even with taurine supplementation, leading to the hypothesis that other essential amino acids may also have been limiting. This thesis presents evidence that replacement of fish meal, as well as organic production of cobia, is feasible. However, these studies also illustrate the necessity of developing quantitative amino acid requirement data for cobia if these goals are to be fully realized. / Master of Science

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

My thesis deals with the attitude of public to foster care. One of the paradoxical issues is the fact that the number of children who are not reared by their biological parents remains quite high while the number of childless partnerships (though desiring offspring) is growing. In the Czech Republic, similarly as in other European countries, about 1% of children (about 20,000) do not grow up in their biological families. Only 2% of that group are full orphans. The remaining 98% of children have living biological parents who do not or cannot take care of them. I endeavored to find out how well individual members of the Czech society are informed about one of the possible solutions of infertility: alternate family care. Using questionnaires, I focused on several age and level of education groups and asked general as well as more personal questions. In the general part, I wanted to find out whether the individual knew what alternate family care was, the different kinds of alternate family care, who provides support during the process, what are the different options, the difference between adoption and foster care, etc. Then I inquired about their own willingness to take in a child, whether sex of the child, somatic and intellectual predisposition were criteria for them and whether they would take in a child of a different ethnicity. It is interesting to note that women are usually more prone to blame themselves for infertility.

The Global Village Playground (GVP) was a capstone learning experience designed to address institutional assessment needs while providing an integrated, contextualized, and authentic learning experience for students. In the GVP, students work on simulated and real-world problems as a design team tasked with developing an alternate reality game that makes an impact on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the design of the GVP as a capstone experience. The research design follows a qualitative case study approach to gather and analyze data collected from the instructors and students participating in the pilot implementation of the GVP. Results of the study show predominantly favorable reactions to various aspects of the course and its design. Students reported to have learned the most through interactions with peers and through applying and integrating knowledge in developing the alternate reality game that was the central problem scenario for the course. What students demonstrated to have learned included knowledge construction, social responsibility, open-mindedness, big picture thinking, and an understanding of their relationship to the larger society and world in which they live. Challenges that resulted from the design included the amount of necessary to build consensus and then develop an overarching game concept, the tension between guided and directed instruction, and the need to foster greater interdependence among students while encouraging them to become more self-directed.

This dissertation presents the essence of the experience of instructional designers and instructors who have used alternate reality games (ARGs) and transmedia storytelling (TS) for teaching and learning. The use of game-like narratives, such as ARGs and TS, is slowly increasing. However, we know little about the lived experiences of those who have implemented such transmedia experiences in formal or informal learning. The data consists of written transcripts from interviews with 11 co-researchers in the United States and Europe. Phenomenology was the guiding methodology. The study begins by reviewing storytelling and the use of games in learning, leading up to exploring the tradition of using ARGs and TS in learning contexts. The analysis was one of reduction leading to codes, summary stories, themes, and the essence of the experience. Co-researchers used many techniques to enlighten their learners including problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, encouragement, disruption, and connection-making. When successful, connection-making facilitates learner agency development by providing learners with the power to act by their own initiative. Action came through the communicated narratives and games that closely tied to real-world problems. In the context of these efforts, this study's co-researchers emerged as educational life-world learning-coaches, "sensei", who were each using strategies and techniques to move students toward meaningful real-world learning and the ability to make a difference in the world. The dissertation closes by exploring implications of this study for instructional designers and instructors interested in using alternate reality games and transmedia storytelling for teaching and learning purposes.

For my thesis project for the Masters of Fine Art in Film and Digital Media, I designed and produced Evelyn Offscreen, an alternate reality game (ARG) that was facilitated by interactive performance. The goal was to create an interactive experience that allowed several players to collaboratively create story across numerous media within the field of alternate reality gaming. The approach used in Evelyn Offscreen was intended to provide a degree of creative freedom to the players that has not been demonstrated in other ARG experiences and to use digital media to capture information about the relative effectiveness of the different techniques that were employed. During the month of October 2009, Evelyn Offscreen invited players to participate in an overarching story as characters. The game existed simultaneously through several media platforms such as Ning, twitter, and blogger as well as scenes located in Central Florida where players could embody their character in a real world setting. The results revealed insights into techniques for massive collaboration of story and player reactions to this hybrid form of alternate reality gaming and interactive performance.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 M37 / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Undesirable landing area (e. g. , a hole, a fragment of glass, a water puddle, etc) creates the necessity for an alternate foot placement planning and execution. Previous study has proposed that three determinants are used by the central nervous system (CNS) for planning an alternate foot placement: minimum foot displacement, stability and maintenance of forward progression. However, validation of these determinants is lacking. Therefore, the general purpose of the series of studies presented here is to validate and test the generality of the decision algorithm of alternate foot placement selection developed previously. The first study was designed to validate the use of a virtual planar obstacle paradigm and the economy assumption behind minimum foot displacement determinant. Participants performed two blocks of trials. In one block, they were instructed to avoid stepping in a virtual planar obstacle projected in the screen of a LCD monitor embedded in the ground. In another block, they were instructed to avoid stepping in a real hole present in walkway. Behavioral response was unaffected by the presence of a real hole. In addition, it was suggested that minimum foot displacement results in minimum changes in EMG activity which validates the economy determinant. The second study was proposed to validate the stability determinant. Participants performed an avoidance task under two conditions: free and forced. In the free condition participants freely chose where to land in order to avoid stepping in a virtual obstacle. In the forced condition, a green arrow was projected over the obstacle indicating the direction of the alternate foot placement. The data from the free condition was used to determine the preferred alternate foot placement whereas the data from the forced condition was used to assess whole body stability. It was found that long and lateral foot placements are preferred because they result in a more stable behavior. The third study was designed to validate the alternate foot placement model in a more complex terrain. Participants were required to avoid stepping in two virtual planar obstacles placed in sequence. It was found that participants used the strategy of planning the avoidance movement globally and additional determinants were used. One of the additional determinants was implementation feasibility. In the third study, gaze behavior was also monitored and two behaviors emerged from this data. One sub-group of participants fixated on the area stepped during adaptive step, whereas another sub-group anchor their gaze in a spot ahead of the area-to-be avoided and used peripheral vision for controlling foot landing. In summary, this thesis validates the three determinants for the alternate foot placement planning model and extends the previous model to more complex terrains.