Digital Commons Network^™

Uav-Assisted Water Quality Monitoring, Cengiz Koparan

All Dissertations

Water quality assessment for the management of water resources requires the collection of water samples for physical, chemical, and biological analysis. It is essential to reduce the cost of water quality monitoring by minimizing the number of grab samples and to reduce the sampling time by rapidly accessing the sampling points. Adaptive, remote, and smart water sampling systems can provide more effective water quality monitoring programs. An adaptive water sampling system with an unmanned aerial vehicle integrated with sensor nodes was developed and tested in this research. Individual phases of this research were; in-situ water quality measurements with a UAV-integrated …

Role Of Cyp2b In Unsaturated Fatty Acid Metabolism, Obesity, And Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Melissa Heintz

All Dissertations

Obesity is closely linked to the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The prevalence of obesity is increasing in the United States, and the most recent 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey recorded 42.4% of adults are obese. Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) play a primary role in phase I detoxification pathways, which in humans, includes over 90% of phase I-dependent metabolism of clinically used drugs, especially within CYP families 1-3. These enzymes also metabolize a vast number of environmental pollutants including industrial and agricultural chemicals, as well as endogenous compounds such as steroids, bile acids, and fatty acids. Hepatic …

Using Heparin-Coated Nanoparticles In The Treatment Of Neointimal Hyperplasia, Nardine M. Ghobrial

All Dissertations

The use of stents in the treatment of atherosclerosis leads to a potential risk of restenosis, caused by neointimal hyperplasia. Neointimal hyperplasia is mainly caused by an injury to the endothelial layer of the blood vessel followed by the proliferation of smooth muscle cells into the lumen of the blood vessel. To address this, we designed a magnetically-guided drug delivery system to locally deliver heparin to a stented artery. The nanoparticles were synthesized, characterized, and tested on relevant human cell lines.

The particles were non-toxic to human smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts. They reduced the proliferation of the …

Quirky Patent Coloring Books: An Outreach Project Focused On Changing The Patent Culture One Patent Coloring Book At A Time, Paulina Borrego

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association

No abstract provided.

Clemson Commencement Program,May 2020, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

How The Advancement Of Computer Graphics Has Improved The Representation Of Monsters In Cinema, Tommy Bui

All Theses

Monsters, creatures, and beasts have always been a part of any civilization’s culture. Through documentation and stories passed down from one generation to the other, we as a society have seen a huge variety of monsters in literature, arts, and movies. The correlation between society and its fascination with monsters stems from fear. Fear is the overall driving force for the creation of all monsters in every form of entertainment because of humanity’s attraction to the weird and abnormal. Often either a fear of science or a fear of one’s self, there is a monster that is created that corresponds. …

In A Nutshell: On The Design, Construction, And Simulation Of Digital Costumes For Frances Glessner Lee, Caroline Rose Requierme

All Theses

In animated film, costumes are an important part of visual storytelling. Costumes can communicate the details of a story's setting and reveal key aspects of a character's personality to the audience. Furthermore, directors and costume designers use clothing to accentuate cinematic performance and artistic direction. However, it is challenging to produce digital costumes that not only maintain the motion and detail of real garments, but also embody the visual style of an animated film. This thesis suggests the use of digital costumes to tell the biographical story of Frances Glessner Lee (1878-1962). In the 1940s, Lee used her skills in …

Dwaraka: An Immersive Storytelling Experience Represented In Virtual Reality Through A Graphic Novel, Nandakumar Chedikulathu Vishnu

All Theses

This thesis showcases the development of a narrative Virtual Reality (VR) experience told in the form of an immersive graphic novel. Virtual reality has the potential to be one of the more intimate forms of storytelling since it puts the user in the center of the story or scene. Similarly the graphic novel is an excellent storytelling device since it relies more on visuals rather than writing, enabling readers to absorb information faster without losing focus. Together they become a visually evocative experience for the audience by enabling them to not just look through the visuals but also jump into …

Nano-Scintillators As Next Generation Tools For Optogenetics, Ashley Dickey

All Dissertations

Optogenetics is a technique that is used to study neural pathways and has the ability to activate or silence synaptic behavior using visible light. Currently, the visible light sources used for optogenetics are surgically implanted into the brain tissue, but this harmful and invasive technique may be avoided if suitable scintillating nanoparticles can be inserted via injection. The proposed nano-scintillator particles must adhere to rigorous parameters including being under 100 nm, uniform, nontoxic, and dispersible to be successful in this biological system. The phase, crystallinity, and dopant concentration must be optimized to absorb X-ray radiation and emit photons of the …

Dynamics And Control Of Nonholonomic Systems With Internal Degrees Of Freedom, Vitaliy Fedonyuk

All Dissertations

Nonholonomic systems model many robots as well as animals and other systems. Although such systems have been studied extensively over the last century, much work still remains to be done on their dynamics and control. Many techniques have been developed for controlling kinematic nonholonomic systems or simplified dynamic versions, however control of high dimensional, underactuated nonholonomic systems remains to be addressed. This dissertation helps fill this gap by developing a control algorithm that can be applied to systems with three or more configuration variables and just one input. We also analyze the dynamic effects of passive degrees of freedom and …

Habitat Features And Behavioral Plasticity Promote Barred Owl Presence In Developed Landscapes, Marion Alice Clement

All Theses

Despite extensive accounts in the literature describing Barred Owls (Strix varia) as obligate forest-interior species that are sensitive to development, Barred Owls have increasingly been found in urbanized landscapes. Due to the limited number of studies on Barred Owls within the context of development, our understanding of the processes that facilitate Barred Owls within anthropogenic landscapes is limited. In the Piedmont region of the southeastern United States, South Carolina, the presence of Barred Owls in suburbs and small-town centers precipitated our research team to examine which habitat features facilitate their occurrence near development.

We conducted surveys using callbacks and autonomous …

Characterization Of Mechanical, Thermodynamic And Surface Properties Of The Butterfly Proboscis, Tatiana Stepanova

All Theses

The butterfly proboscis is a fascinating fiber designed to probe and transport fluids. The built-in sensors and actuators make this fiber multifunctional. The proboscis consists of 2 hollow C-shaped tubes that are united when the butterfly comes out of the pupa. A single galea consists of a solid cuticular wall, muscles, nerves, and tracheae. The proboscis cuticular wall is mainly composed of polymers and small amounts of metals and non-metals. The proboscis is a porous material, and its water content is high, up to 50%. When the butterfly is not hungry, its proboscis is tightly coiled; when the butterfly is …

Paper-Derived Ammonia Sensors Integrating A Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent, Makenzie Leigh Reynolds

All Theses

Ammonia is a naturally-occurring gas, present throughout the atmosphere at sub-ppb concentrations. As result of various processes, significantly higher concentrations can be found in the areas surrounding industrial and agricultural operations. In such cases, the presence of NH3 in air not only is associated with a very pungent odor and potential toxicity but can also affect the environment, animals, plants, and humans. Aiming to provide a simple platform to monitor NH3 in air, a paper-derived gas sensor, integrating a natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) was developed. The herein described paper-derived ammonia gas sensor was fabricated using direct laser scribing, to …

Integrating Emotional Affect Into Bear Viewing Management And Bear Safety Education, John Nettles

All Theses

The popularity of viewing wildlife, specifically brown bears (Ursus arctos), is increasing rapidly throughout North America, from Yellowstone National Park (NP) to Denali National Park. In addition, population distributions of both humans and brown bears are expanding, creating larger areas of overlap and an increased possibility of human-bear interactions. In order to prevent negative encounters and injury to either species, park managers must continue to work to encourage appropriate behavior among local residents as well as park visitors. Human behavior, however, is a result of many complex factors, including emotion and cognition. Despite this, the effects of emotions on human-wildlife …

Winter Torpor And Roosting Ecology Of Tri-Colored Bats (Perimyotis Subflavus) In Trees And Bridges, Blaise Ashley Newman

All Theses

Subterranean hibernating tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) have experienced precipitous declines from white-nose syndrome (WNS). However, tri-colored bats also use thermally unstable roosts like tree cavities, bridges, and foliage during winter. Our objective was to determine where tri-colored bats (Perimyotis subflavus) using thermally unstable roosts lie on the torpor continuum to understand their potential WNS susceptibility, as well as determine roost use and selection in an area devoid of subterranean roosts. From November to March 2017-2019, we used temperature-sensitive radio-transmitters to track bats to their day roosts and document their torpor and activity patterns on the Savannah …

Articulating The Cloud: Understanding Data Centers, Renewable Energy, And Public Policy, Bailey R. Troutman

All Theses

Experts urge that drastic steps must be taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as the ongoing climate crisis worsens. Amid this, it is also important to understand the relationships between media infrastructures and the finite resources they require. This thesis goes beyond arguing that data centers are inherently unsustainable media infrastructures that consumers rely on to access the Internet and cloud storage. Instead, this thesis focuses on Google as an industry leading company in the United States to assess how the company understands their role in the climate crisis, and how they define renewable energy and sustainability. To do so, …

New Ruins, Jordan Fowler

All Theses

New Ruins is an exhibit of sculptures that integrates physical, natural, digital forms and materials. These works are constructed as ruins of the future, involving materials and systems that carry concerning implications for tomorrow.

I demonstrate two main bodies of work through this investigation. Re-encodings display large-scale assemblages of concrete, foam, organic matter and mechanical detritus with projection map glitched digital video animating their surfaces. Additionally, Generative Ruins are a series of 3D printed sculptures modelled through algorithms that parameterize and procedurally generate ruins.

Because the presentation of these works echoes the display of archaeological finds my sculptures have a …

Hellbender Ecology In North Carolina: A Comparison Of Artificial Cover Designs And Evaluation Of Larval Resource Selection, Lauren Diaz

All Theses

The hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is a giant salamander inhabiting streams in the eastern United States. Hellbenders have experienced range-wide declines due to a loss in population recruitment. It is unclear whether the loss in recruitment stems from a loss of nesting or larval habitat. Artificial shelters have been developed as a tool to supplement nesting habitat for hellbenders, however their use requires further investigation to be implemented effectively. Furthermore, once larvae emerge from the nest, there is a dearth of information regarding larval ecological requirements. My objectives were to 1) compare three artificial shelter designs in terms of …

Routes To Deliverance: The Development Of Social Mobility Among East African Slave Porters By Way Of Missionary Caravans, 1877-1906., Katherine Jean Allen

All Theses

This thesis examines British missionary caravans in nineteenth-century East Africa. Through the utilization of enslaved porters from the island of Zanzibar, enslaved people were able to garner autonomy. The primary focus of this thesis is to examine the ways British missionaries inadvertently provided routes to social mobility and manumission to enslaved peoples. Its aim is to place this ironic phenomenon in conversation with historiographical claims that porters were not slave labor as well as postulating that enslaved people were agents of their own social mobility and manumission.

The Trump Effect And The Damage Done: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Sociopolitical Hostility And Teacher Responses In Language Classrooms, Stephanie M. Madison

All Dissertations

Immediately following the 2016 election, teachers reported a previously-unseen level of animosity from their students mimicking the rhetoric of President Trump, often verbatim. The combination of racial, ethnic, religious, and bias-motivated bullying and language has been referred to as the “Trump Effect” in the media and among educators (Nygreen, Lazdowski, & Bialostok, 2017). While teachers in all subject areas may have the potential to address this dehumanizing rhetoric, this study focused on foreign/world language (FL) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), which are areas that have not been thoroughly explored as a particularly important and relevant site for …

Soundscapes For Social Change: Community And Consciousness Through Sound Design Rhetorics, Amy Patterson

All Dissertations

By applying a “sound-mapping” methodology that incorporates qualitative interviews and field research, I argue that theater sound design provides new means to connect sonic rhetorics with social change. I examine theater sound design as an ecological composing practice that lends itself to empathy, community, action, and pedagogy; and further argue that there is rhetorical potential in what I call “soundscapes for social change,” a concept that encourages sonic agency and sound as contemporary resistance. The theater setting introduces sound and vibration experiences carefully calculated and developed to impact a variety of audiences and stir their imaginations through sensory experiences, accessed …

Toxoplasma Gondii Requires Its Plant-Like Heme Biosynthesis Pathway For Infection, Amy Bergmann, Kathleen Floyd, Melanie Key, Carly Dameron, Kerrick C. Rees, L. Brock Thornton, Daniel C. Whitehead, Iqbal Hamza, Zhicheng Dou

Publications

Heme, an iron-containing organic ring, is essential for virtually all living organisms by serving as a prosthetic group in proteins that function in diverse cellular activities ranging from diatomic gas transport and sensing, to mitochondrial respiration, to detoxification. Cellular heme levels in microbial pathogens can be a composite of endogenous de novo synthesis or exogenous uptake of heme or heme synthesis intermediates. Intracellular pathogenic microbes switch routes for heme supply when heme availability fluctuates in their replicative environment throughout infection. Here, we show that Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular human pathogen, encodes a functional heme biosynthesis pathway. A chloroplast-derived …

Evaluating The Economic Effects Of Using Broiler Litter As An Alternative Fertilizer For A Corn-Wheat-Soybean Cropping Sequence In South Carolina, Oluwasegun Daniel Adigun

All Theses

This thesis evaluates the profitability of a standard commercial inorganic fertilization practice vis-à-vis the following three alternative fertilization options: i) a broiler litter only fertilization scenario ii) a 2-tons per acre broiler litter annually plus supplementary commercial inorganic fertilization scenario, and iii) a 2-tons per acre broiler litter applied every other year plus supplementary commercial inorganic fertilizer. Furthermore, the likely environmental impact of each practice was evaluated. The representative farm is a 1,000-acre row crop farm in the Upper Coastal region of South Carolina, with a corn-wheat-soybean cropping sequence. Each cropping sequence required two years for completion, and a total …

Design And Development Of An Unconstrained Spine Test Rig To Study The Kinematics Of Spine Motion, Nisha Gulhane

All Theses

The spine is one of the most complex structures in the musculoskeletal system. Surgical procedures and implants used to treat spinal disorders include modification or removal of the diseased intervertebral disk, vertebral fusion using various combinations of hardware devices, and total disc replacement using mobile implant devices. The safety and efficacy of these implants need to be evaluated prior to clinical use. Three-dimensional biomechanical testing of the spine is necessary to evaluate spine function along with the effects of disorders, surgical procedures and implants. The general flexibility tests using pure moments can be performed using commercially available testing frames, but …

The Fabrication And Analysis Of An Angle-Ply, Multi-Laminate Annulus Fibrosus Plug For Intervertebral Disc Repair, Alex Garon

All Theses

The intervertebral disc (IVD) is a fibrocartilaginous tissue connecting adjacent vertebrae in the spinal column. Within the IVD is gelatinous core called the nucleus pulposus (NP) which is radially confined by the annulus fibrosus (AF). The AF is composed of concentric layers of fibrous lamellae rich in collagen type I and functions to support radial forces redistributed from the NP core. Pathologic conditions of the IVD are often associated with low back pain (LBP) which has a lifetime prevalence of up to 80% and creates an annual economic burden of over $100 billion. Discogenic pathologies associated with LBP include IVD …

Global Estimated Disability-Adjusted Life-Years (Dalys) Of Diarrheal Diseases: A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Global Burden Of Disease Study 2017, Natacha Karambizi

All Theses

Summary Background

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 is the most comprehensive study ever carried out to report on the state of global public health for the previous 28 years (1990-2017). In 2017, it covered 359 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories.

Our study sought to provide an up-to-date analysis of the progress that has been made to eradicate diarrheal diseases using the GBD2017 data. Although significant progress has been made in reducing the number of deaths due to diarrhea, diarrheal diseases incidences and associated morbidity have not experienced the same level …

Technique For The Determination Of Migratable Primary Aromatic Amines Applied To Multi-Laminate Pouches Utilizing Polyurethane Adhesives, Ryan Frederick Ramey

All Theses

Primary aromatic amines (PAAs) are toxic reaction products of polyurethane chemistry and form from unreacted isocyanate monomers and water. This issue is prevalent when considering polyurethane adhesive applications in food contact materials (FCM’s) and food contact articles (FCAs). EU standards state that a maximum migration level of the total sum of PAAs may be no more than 10 ng g-1 of food. Testing for migration and quantification of PAAs has not been standardized, but this research tests a published optimized method for migration testing and quantification of compounds utilizing strong cationic exchange solid phase extraction (SCX-SPE) and ultra-high performance liquid …

The Building Stones Of Charleston: Sandstone And Limestone, Pre-1800, Elliott Daniel Simon

All Theses

A range of preservation tools are available to homeowners and architectural conservators caring for historic buildings with stone, guiding preservation treatment choices for the material. These tools include historical research, material testing, and comparison to other buildings where treatments have been tested on a similar stone. This thesis seeks to establish a basic understanding of two stone types used in the construction of buildings in an area of the oldest district in Charleston, South Carolina built prior to 1800. This study will utilize the basic preservation tools of research and material analysis to create a catalogue of stone with both …

Patterns Of Membrane Potential Of Cells Isolated From The Midgut Of Heliothis Virescens, Richard Melton

All Theses

The midgut is the main point of interaction between a lepidopteran larva and its environment, so understanding how the gut functions is important not just for understanding gut physiology but also the ecology and evolution of these organism. The midgut of these larvae is a fascinating system in which to study developmental, regeneration, and immune physiology. The midgut can exhibit up to a 200-fold increase in size through ontogeny, primarily through addition of new cells at molt, while damaged cells are replaced throughout intermolt periods. In the midgut of lepidopteran larvae, mature cells are produced from stem cells, localized in …

“It Felt Like Walking Through A Night Sky”: Managing The Visitor Experience During Biologically-Based Nighttime Events, Caitlin Michelle Henry

All Theses

Nighttime activities and events specifically related to natural phenomena are becoming increasingly popular. As nighttime recreation in parks and protected areas increases, managers must implement policies and frameworks that maintain both the visitor experience and natural darkness and soundscapes. The Congaree National Park Fireflies Festival celebrates the annual fireflies mating season, and after national renown for this event the park has witnessed increased visitation. Over the past year, visitation rates have forced management to implement a designated trail to enhance the visitor experience while reducing crowding on the boardwalk and manage the natural phenomena more like a festival event than …