Digital Commons Network^™

Quantifying Shear Stresses In Tissue Engineered Aortic Heart Valves, Raj Nitin Dave

All Theses

Present heart valve prosthesis have limitations such as capability to grow, repair and remodel post implantation. Tissue engineering offers to be a promising alternative to overcome these limitations. Maturation of seeded human cells on the valve subjected to favorable growth conditions in the bioreactor is critical to the success of tissue engineered heart valves. Mechanical stress and strain which results from the pressure and flow conditions in the bioreactor plays a critical role on the developing valve tissue and are currently unknown. The goal of this research is to relate the magnitude of wall shear stress (WSS) within the heart …

A Performance Evaluation Of Architectural Coatings To Preserve Aerosol Paint On Concrete, Riley Morris

All Theses

The growing movement of assigning cultural and heritage value to graffiti and street art is one without a preservation solution to ensure the longevity of these works in-situ in an outdoor environment. The goal of this thesis was to provide a comprehensive evaluation of six architectural topcoats’ performance when applied as a conservation treatment to outdoor aerosol graffiti and street art on concrete substrate. An artist’s quality, durable, color-fast spray-paint was applied to twenty-eight concrete test panels to mimic the application of graffiti or street art. Six topcoats, Prosoco SC-1, Prosoco Gloss n’ Guard WB, Keim Faceal Oleo HD®, Keim …

The Ivory Tower: An Intersectional View On Gender And Ethnicity In Academia Before And After The Transition To Online Work, Chelsea Robbins

All Theses

A substantial body of research shows that female academics have faced lower salaries, fewer promotions, and lower rates of tenure than male academics. Proposed mechanisms include higher demands for unrewarded service in the teaching-research-service ratio and significant obstacles in balancing work and family. This study proposed the ‘Academic Tetrad,’ which includes the additional facet of home life, as an alternative to the traditional ‘Academic Trinity’ perspective. The present study utilized an intersectional perspective to examine the academic tetrad, key workplace variables, and work-life balance across the COVID-19 transition to online work. The findings countered previous research by showing equality on …

Stepping Into The Past: A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Charleston’S Streetscape Through Imagery, Travis Galli

All Theses

The tradition of preservation has long focused on the built environment of historic buildings, while ignoring the very environment they reside in, specifically streetscapes. This thesis seeks to identify the spatial and temporal changes in streetscapes occurring on King Street and Chalmers Street from 1700 until 1971 and provide guidelines for the preservation and restoration of streetscapes to their periods of historic significance between ca. 1750-1971. By collecting and analyzing images of the streetscape at different period in time, specific features and materials were identified. Imagery included historic photos, paintings, and sketches. Broken into specific periods, this study tracks changes …

Design Of A Four Channel Pulsatile Perfusion Bioreactor For Ex-Vivo Study Of Vascular Grafts, Thomas M. Fair

All Theses

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States. Atherosclerosis in peripheral arteries is a major contributing factor. Autologous saphenous vein grafts are the most common bypass grafts for treating peripheral artery diseases. A quarter of these grafts fail within a year, and around half have failed within 10 years of the initial surgery. Graft failure is attributed to the development of intimal hyperplasia indicated by the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and the deposition of extracellular proteins.

Increases in flow, pressure, the pulse frequency, and the differential of pressure that model an …

Use Of 14c-Pfoa To Study Uptake And Biological Effects Of Pfoa In Brassica Juncea, Bryanna Dawn Wattier

All Theses

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a surfactant, is a member of the perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) family and is a contaminant of emerging concern for human and environmental health. PFOA is a persistent organic pollutant but currently little is known about (1) the potential ecological and toxicological effects of PFOA and (2) how PFOA moves in the environment. This study employs a radiotracer (¹⁴C-PFOA) to study the uptake and effects of PFOA in hydroponically grown Brassica juncea, a representative crop species. Plants were exposed in quadruplicate over the course of seven days (with plants sampled on day 4 and day 7) …

Portable U-Bent Optical Fiber Biosensor For Detecting Microcystin-Lr, Quan Dio Anh Le

All Theses

Cyanobacteria are the only known prokaryotes that can photosynthesize. Due to their unique ability, they are important entities in the global carbon and nitrogen cycles. However, two factors can turn cyanobacteria into a nuisance. In general, eutrophication is the process that supplies external nutrients that are needed for cyanobacteria blooms into bodies of water from the surrounding environment. Climate warming intensifies this process by producing carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. With cyanobacteria blooms occurring worldwide, they are becoming a bigger threat to human health, and there has been increased interest in detecting cyanobacteria and their toxic byproducts.

For instance, …

Female Portrayal In Games Through Costumes: Designing And Creating Appealing Armor For Female Players, Nancey Fang

All Theses

This thesis details the design, development, and creation of variations of more functional female armor designed for games with the female audience in mind.

The goal is to empower female players by designing and creating strong armor that is not sexualized and that women can enjoy. I want to show that women can be portrayed as strong and powerful in games by designing armor that is equivalent to their male counterparts. Due to the gender imbalance in the video game industry and player base, it seems that female players are not catered to when most games are created. Many studies …

Rewriting The Narrative That Surrounds Mental Illness, Ashley Johnson

All Theses

The focus of this work is to change the narrative that surrounds mental health issues by portraying mental battles through animation. Buddhism heavily influenced the crux of this project, which is the conscious decision to accept oneself and choose to work towards inner balance instead of battles. 3D animation is used to distill complex thoughts into simplified characters that drive the narrative through performance and choreographed fight scenes.

Body Appreciation, Gender, Motivation, And Competitive Success In Competition Climbing, Marissa Frost

All Theses

The focus of this study was to examine the relation between the constructs of body appreciation, gender, motivation, and competitive success in competition climbers. To gather data for this study, a Qualtrics survey was created and distributed amongst the competition climbing community through USA Climbing’s Facebook page and member email list. Data was then collected from competition climbers between the ages of thirteen and sixty over 45 days in the winter of 2017. A total of 236 competition climbers participated in the survey and 202 of those responses were used in this study. Body appreciation in this study was analyzed …

Investigations Of External Resources And The Impact Of Imaging On Patient Flow In The Emergency Department, Marisa Shehan

All Theses

The problems associated with Emergency Department (ED) crowding are numerous, varied, and complex. Though overcrowded Emergency Departments are frequently attributed to overcrowded hospitals, crowding is also impacted by bottlenecks in patient flow. While discrete-event simulation (DES) is commonly used to model ED flow, external resources are typically excluded from these models due to their complexity and the limited amount of known information for these processes. Instead, external resources such as consults, labs, and imaging are modeled using estimation and/or educated guesswork. In this study, the impact of imaging on patient flow was assessed through data analysis of specific imaging factors, …

Covid-19 And Canine Travelers: Determining Likelihood To Travel With Dogs, Angela Rowan

All Theses

During the Covid-19 pandemic, dog adoption rates skyrocketed, restaurants focused on outdoor seating, and travelers pivoted away from tightly packed planes out of safety concerns. This study surveyed dog owners in the United States to determine whether pet attachment levels could predict dog owners’ likelihood of traveling with their dogs. In addition, it used Um and Crompton’s (1992) facilitators and inhibitors to establish how different factors affect a dog owner’s likelihood of traveling with their dog. These facilitators and inhibitors were split into three dimensions: needs satisfaction, social agreement, and travelability. Finally, this study sought to learn what effect the …

In The Grip Of Grippe: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic Viewed Through A Cross-Section Of American Society, Carole C. Thomas

All Theses

In 1918, a virulent strain of influenza swept the world, infecting as many as 500 million people and killing at least 50 million, 675,000 of whom were in the United States. Despite the many advances that had been made in science and medicine, even the best medical professionals were helpless against the disease. Lawmakers, too, were limited in what they could do to respond to the emergency, especially as the demands of the First World War remained a priority. Through an examination of the response to the flu in a cross-section of American society– national, state, and local – this …

Identification Of Critical Points For Bacterial Contamination In The Microbrewery Environment, Alex Ryan Thompson

All Theses

There are 8,884 craft breweries producing over 23 million barrels of beer in the United States as of 2020. These 23 million barrels of craft beer account for 12.3% of the United States beer consumption in 2020. The American craft beer industry is substantial and needs to protect its product from bacterial contamination.

Overall, beer is a microbially stable product. Beers pH, ethanol levels, CO₂ concentrations, the presence of hop-derived antimicrobial compounds, and low levels of O₂ make beer a highly unfavorable environment for most bacterial species. Furthermore, the brewing process, which involves heat treatments and chemical sanitizers …

Co-Habitation And Migration: Urban Design For Bird Migratory Pathways, Steve C. Kurtz

All Theses

Urban landscapes are intricate systems interacting throughout the globe. Over the past decades, urban development has widely sprawled and fragmented flyway systems and corridors. This has led to many changes in species composition and has even caused the extinction of some animals (Marzluff 1997). Recent studies have indicated that there exists a protective or restorative design to create stepping-stone connectivity in urban areas. This study looks to understanding potential benefits in urban biodiversity, animal species protection, and urban benefits of green roof designs.

Fate And Transport Of Toxoplasma Gondii Oocysts In Saturated Porous Media: Effects Of Electrolytes And Natural Organic Matter, Christian Pullano

All Theses

Toxoplasma gondii is a pathogenic microorganism that is currently a threat to public health. Understanding the fate and transport of T. gondii through the soil and groundwater is vital in determining the risk it poses to water resources and human health. The physico-chemical interactions between the groundwater and the bio colloid within an aquifer will dictate its mobility and its ability to infect humans. This research examines how various naturally occurring groundwater chemistries containing organic compounds and monovalent and divalent salt solutions will alter the fate and transport of T. gondii. Solutions containing various concentrations of humic acid, fulvic …

Toward Sustainable Urban Food Production: Integrating Hydroponic Cultivation With Wastewater Reuse, Amanda Tan

All Theses

The growing crisis of freshwater scarcity together with the increasing global food demand directs attention to the need for alternative water sources for agriculture. The research presented here engages this need by carrying out indoor cultivation of food crops in Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) hydroponic systems using residential wastewater. Randomized single factor experimental designs were used to investigate the physiochemical and microbiological makeup of the hydroponic nutrient solution throughout the cultivation cycle and their relationship with different plant development parameters.

For agricultural wastewater reuse to be of low risk to human health there must be some advancement in pathogen monitoring …

Nonlinear Optical Microscopy Assessment Of Tissue Structure And Chondrocyte Viability Of Articular Cartilage, Michael Le

All Theses

Articular cartilage functions to protect the ends of bones by providing a surface that can withstand compressive forces and minimize friction during movement. Collagen fibers form the organizational backbone of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in cartilage. Proteoglycans within the ECM function to retain water and provide the tissue with the swelling pressure needed to withstand compressional forces. Chondrocytes, the only type of cell found in articular cartilage, produces these collagen fibers and proteoglycans to maintain the tissue structure and function. Significant injuries to articular cartilage can damage the chondrocytes and disrupt their ability to maintain homeostasis in the tissue. Therefore, …

Oh, The Place You’Ll Go: The Effects Of Commuting Time On Work, Family, And Health Related Outcomes, Lauren Kistler

All Theses

People spend a majority of their lives working and commuting is an essential part of most workers’ daily schedule. According to the 2017 American Community Survey distributed by the U.S. Census Bureau, the average commute for Americans is approximately 27 minutes. Time spent commuting has increased in recent decades (Denstadli et al., 2017; Gimenez-Nadal & Molina, 2019; Hoehner et al., 2012; Künn‐Nelen, 2016). Commuting to work is often a source of stress for workers, and its detrimental impacts are a rising public health issue as well as an area of concern for occupational health psychologists. Commuting is not considered a …

Porous Silicon Photonics For Label-Free Interferometric Biosensing And Flat Optics, Tahmid Hassan Talukdar

All Dissertations

This dissertation uses porous silicon as a material platform to explore novel optical effects in three domains: (i) It studies dispersion engineering in integrated waveguides to achieve high performance group index sensing. With proper design parameters, the sensor waveguides can theoretically achieve 6 times larger group index shift compared to the actual bulk effective refractive index shift. We demonstrate the guided mode confinement factor to be a key parameter in design and implementation of these waveguides. (ii) It explores multicolor laser illumination to experimentally demonstrate perceptually enhanced colorimetric sensing, overcoming the limitations faced by many contemporary colorimetric sensors. Our technique …

Outreach As Dialogue: Lessons From University Forests, Kelly M. Alvidrez

All Theses

University and school forests are managed for a unique set of multiple uses from research and teaching to recreation and forestry. Understanding how outreach is employed in these settings as a component of their land management strategy can offer insights to school forests generally as well as other complex land management efforts. Using outreach, a forest can facilitate communication as a dialogue, connecting to forest participants and stakeholders. This qualitative research study uses a multi-scale case study approach to examine a recent harvest and outreach efforts at the Clemson Experimental Forest, as well the outreach efforts at eight other university …

Effects Of 2,4-Di-Tert-Butylphenol On Osteogenic And Myogenic Differentiation Of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Thanh-Bình Dương

All Theses

Synthetic phenolic antioxidants (SPAs) are a class of compounds used to increase the durability of polymers as well as to increase the shelf-life of food, cosmetics, and other personal care items. Of these SPAs is 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol (2,4-DBP). 2,4-DBP is primarily used in polyethylene crosspolymer pipes, which are now used as a replacement for the traditional copper pipes for household water distribution. However, 2,4-DBP has been found to leach from these pipes into the water, enabling a mode of exposure to humans. 2,4-DBP has been detected in human urine, serum, but more importantly, maternal serum, placenta, and cord blood. …

Distraction In Retrospect: A Retrospective Interview Study, Andrew Obeng

All Theses

Student success, as currently defined, neglects the well-being of some students, specifically those who manage medical conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD/ADD), which complicates the educational experience regardless of age and is not fully addressed. In order to account for the needs of students with ADHD/ADD, it is important to understand how their medical needs manifest and impact them. ADHD/ADD, commonly associated with impulsivity and inattention, often presents with comorbid psychological or physiological conditions. While this combination of symptoms would prove difficult for anyone, it becomes particularly challenging within the context of college life, as students are often …

Mechanochromic Tunable Emissions Of Hydrogel Encapsulated Radioluminescent Crystalline Colloidal Arrays, Sarah Mell

All Theses

Crystalline colloidal arrays (CCAs) are periodic dielectric arrays composed of monodisperse, negatively charged nanoparticles with unique optical characteristics. Poly(styrene-co-propargyl acrylate) (PS-PA) based copolymer nanoparticles synthesized via an emulsion polymerization form the basis of the CCAs in this work. The negatively charged surfaces result in the colloidal nanoparticles self-assembling into a face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal-like structure. The long-range order and spatial periodicity of the array result in a rejection wavelength, characteristic of CCAs, in which a specific wavelength of light is forbidden from propagating throughout the optical system. The CCAs exhibit mechanochromism through a rejection wavelength shift corresponding to a change …

The Impact Of Oversaturation And Corporate Identity On Csr Messages Within The Electric Car Industry, Carla White

All Theses

Rooted in the call for increased electric and zero-emission vehicles, this study aims to analyze the impact of repeated industry-wide Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) messages on public perception. This research will test the impact of oversaturation on CSR message outcomes according to Hon and Grunig's (1999) organizational-public relationships (OPRs) scale. Additionally, this research will incorporate corporate identity (CI) framework derived from business literature to test CI's influence on CSR messages and OPR outcomes. Participant's overall trust, satisfaction, and commitment towards a company mission statement and various advertisements under differing experimental conditions will determine the effect of both oversaturation and CI …

The Effects Of News Framing On Policy Support For Incarcerated Black Women, Rebecca Pool

All Theses

Mass incarceration has disproportionately affected many people; however, Black women have been routinely dismissed from the majority of prison scholarship and are at a particular risk through harmful stereotypes that serve as justification for their imprisonment. By examining their unique stance in the prison-industrial complex, this thesis draws attention to mechanisms to generate support for these women. Under the framework of framing theory and critical media effects, this research determined whether individual attribution of responsibility frames or societal attribution of responsibility frames affect individuals’ support for anti-mass incarceration public policies. According to the results, there were no effects between Black …

Macrophage Rac2 Promotes Suppression Of Germination During Aspergillus Fumigatus Infection, Chris D. Tanner

All Theses

Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus found ubiquitously in the environment including in the air we breathe. Though not a threat to most people, immunodeficient or immunosuppressed individuals are at risk for developing severe infection, including the life-threatening condition of invasive aspergillosis. The hematopoietic cell specific GTPase protein Rac2 is associated with major roles in innate immune defense. Currently Rac2 has been demonstrated to be crucial for survival against a variety of infections. Here, we use a rac2 null mutant zebrafish line and morpholino approaches to elucidate roles of Rac2 in mounting the macrophage host defense response against A. fumigatus infection. …

The Screen And Development: Creative Writing And Liminality In Children’S Literature, Rebecca E. Glenn

All Theses

This creative thesis strives to research and implement the overlap of liminality found within Children’s Literature, especially those works that exist through the screen. The critical component of this thesis explores the ways in which childhood development and maturity, a theme commonly found within Children’s Literature, embodies its own “right of passage” associated with the liminal. The journey of the Children’s Literature protagonist is often wrought with this movement from familiar boundaries to a sense of new development. The critical analysis emphasizes the methods Children’s Literature genre uses emotion, familial connections, symbology, space, and even elements of the monstrous to …

Unraveling The Genetic Architecture Of Somatic Embryogenesis In Upland Cotton, Adam M. Canal

All Theses

Somatic embryogenesis is the de novo development of asexual embryos because of the plasticity of the plant cell. In tissue culture, the biochemical and genetic mechanisms of dedifferentiated callus tissues can be reprogrammed to transdifferentiate into developed, polarized embryos, which can ultimately regenerate into whole plants. Although this rarely occurs in nature, scientists have exploited this process for decades to regenerate whole plants following gene transformation or for micropropagation. While some species are amenable to in vitro regeneration, upland cotton is particularly recalcitrant, with regenerative potential being confined to only several genotypes. The lack of elite, regenerable genotypes greatly restricts …

Soft Web-Based Continuum Robot Grippers, Anthony Carambia

All Theses

We discuss the potential of soft webs to enhance robotic grasping. Specifically, we explore a novel combination of compliant continuum digits interspersed with a flexible material. The resulting webbed structure offers the potential for new modes of robust and adaptive object grasping. We introduce and describe two webbed grippers featuring alternate modes of actuation: pneumatic muscles and remotely actuated tendons. Experiments with the grippers demonstrate their ability to gently capture small, fragile, and non-cooperative objects.