Maryland Shared Open Access Repository
MD-SOAR is a shared digital repository platform for twelve colleges and universities in Maryland. It is currently funded by the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) Library Consortium (usmai.org) and other participating partner institutions. MD-SOAR is jointly governed by all participating libraries, who have agreed to share policies and practices that are necessary and appropriate for the shared platform. Within this broad framework, each library provides customized repository services and collections that meet local institutional needs. Please follow the links below to learn more about each library's repository services and collections.
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Recent Submissions
Localization of low frequency noise with hearing aids (HAs) and personal sound amplification products (PSAPs)
(2023-08-31) Behre, Casey; Srinivasan, Nirmal Kumar; Towson University. Department of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology
This purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of hearing aid (HA) and personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) in adverse listening environments, such as those with background noise. Specifically, the unaided speech identification and localization ability of twenty-five participants with hearing loss were analyzed using a 13-speaker array. Two of these participants completed additional testing in aided conditions: one with an Oticon Nera MiniRITE Hearing Aid and one with a CS 50+ Personal Sound Amplification Product. Speech identification thresholds were found for each participant using Coordinate Response Measure (CRM) corpus. Data obtained from speech identification testing was compared between co-located and separated conditions. Localization ability was assessed using percent accuracy and root-mean-square (RMS) error for low frequency noise and broadband noise. Participants unaided speech identification results indicated that participants with hearing loss receive spatial release from masking when the target and masker are separated, which was consistent with previous studies (Collins, 2019; Connaster, 2018; Srinivasan, 2016). Unaided localization indicated a higher percent accuracy and lower RMS error for the broadband noise test condition compared to the low frequency noise. This result demonstrates that when participants can utilize both ITD and ILD cues, rather than primarily ITD cues, their performance is better. These results were consistent with previous studies (Dobreva, O’Neill, & Paige, 2011; Van den Bogart, 2006). Participants aided speech identification results were reported within subject, as the sample size was small (n = 2). Participant 1 (MH) did not demonstrate any significant release from masking across any condition, whereas Participant 2 (TM) received a significant spatial release from masking in the unaided condition and the hearing aid condition. In the current study, aided results from the two qualifying participants revealed the highest percent accuracy and lowest RMS error in the hearing aid condition. These results are consistent with data from Collins (2019) study but are not consistent with studies with more participants (Connaster, 2018; Van den Bogart, 2006). It is likely that with more participants and repetition of all tasks, aided findings would align more with the literature. Continued study into PSAP devices and performance in adverse listening environments is crucial for the communicative success of our patients.
The literature of thought control: examining the enduring significance of the dystopian genre
(2023-09-05) Baronowski, Daniel; Vincent, Jonathan E.; Towson University. Professional Writing Program
The genre of dystopian fiction is one of the most essential components of social commentary on our society, but its critical style is often absorbed into genres like Young-Adult fiction. I set out to investigate exactly which elements of dystopian fiction, in its past and present forms, are central to its usefulness as a tool to study our contemporary world. My focus was divided into three concentrations of dystopian novels: those that exposed the inadequacies of their particularly lived pasts, those which commented on the deficiencies of their present, and those which illustrated the fears of their individual futures. Each section revolves around the discussion of one primary novel—Nineteen Eighty-Four, Catch-22, and Brave New World, respectively—with other novels and sources in support. I find that the strength of dystopian fiction comes from its resonance with literary interpretation across multiple time periods and metaphoric, critical application to a range of evolving social issues.
CAN APOPTOSIS BE INDUCED IN THE TOXIC DINOFLAGELLATE Karlodinium veneficum?
(2008-05) Jones, Maureen S.; Hood College Biology; Biomedical and Environmental Science
This experiment seeks to find out whether or not apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death (PCD), can be induced in a laboratory culture of the toxic dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum. K. veneficum is known to release two separate toxins that possibly deter grazing on K. veneficum by other species and also possibly increase the predation success of K. veneficum (Adolf et al., 2005). These toxic blooms cause environmental problems; including fish kills (Deeds et al., 2002). Understanding that apoptosis occurs in K. veneficum has a very important, practical application. If K. veneficum does undergo PCD, eventually we may be able to identify a compound(s) or a treatment that can be applied to blooms that would initiate the same pathways that trigger apoptosis. We could essentially force K. veneficum to commit suicide. Determining the factors which affect and trigger apoptosis of K. veneficum cells would have a profound effect on the development of strategies in which these factors could be applied to natural systems in order to prevent or remediate harmful algal blooms of K. veneficum.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUFFRAGE, ABOLITION, AND TEMPERANCE
(2012-08) Johnson, Elizabeth Marie; Hood College Arts and Humanities; Humanities
This capstone project will analyze the influence of other reform movements on the women's suffrage movement during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There are two reforms of particular interest to suffrage—the abolition movement of the mid 1800s and the temperance movement of the Progressive Era. The complex and changing nature of the relationship between suffragists, abolitionists, and temperance advocates presents several questions for investigation: 1) How and why did the relationship with the reform movements change over time?; 2) What strategies and examples did suffragists learn from the abolition and temperance movements?; and 3) What is the enduring legacy of the partnership of these reform movements? The women's suffrage movement required a partnership with abolition and temperance in order to bring women out of the private sphere and allow them to access the public sphere, shown primarily through the acquisition of voting rights.
Mapping Reactivities of Murine Monoclonal Antibodies to the External Envelope Glycoprotein (gp120) of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)
(1990-12) Johnson, Donald Gibson; Hood College Biology; Biomedical and Environmental Science
A group of monoclonal antibodies generated from the envelope glycoprotein (gp120) of human immunodeficiency virus type 1B (HIV-1B) or
type 1RF (HIV-1RF) were selected for characterization and epitope mapping studies. The reactivity of the clones to media enriched gp120
from three isolates of HIV-1; B, RF, and MN was determined using various immunological assays. The assays included western blotting, enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), and radioimmunoprecipitations (RIPs). The reactivity of the clones to bacterially expressed fragments and synthetic peptides analogous to regions of gp120 were also defined to aid in characterization and epitope determination. Subsequently, attempts were made to define the reactive epitopes of the monoclonal antibodies on HIV-1B media enriched gp120. Gp120 from HIV-1B was cleaved using proteolytic and glycolytic enzymes to generate reproducible patterns. The reactivity of the clones for digested and chemically modified preparations of B gp120 was analyzed and used in defining epitope location. A nitrocellulose slot immunoassay was
developed to rapidly screen digested and chemically modified preparations of B gp120 to determine reactivity of the monoclonal antibodies. Further analysis for defining the location of the reactive epitopes on HIV-1B gp120 was attempted with the technique protein "footprinting" (Sheshberadaran et al., 1988). With the available techniques and reagents, the monoclonal antibodies were characterized and their epitopes mapped on native gp120 of HIV-1B.