Digital Commons Network^™

Training Uav Teams With Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Towards Fully 3d Autonomous Wildfire Response, Bryce Hopkins

All Theses

As climate-exacerbated wildfires increasingly threaten landscapes and communities, there is an urgent and pressing need for sophisticated fire management technologies. Coordinated teams of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) present a promising solution for detection, assessment, and even incipient-stage suppression – especially when integrated into a multi-layered approach with other recent wildfire management technologies such as geostationary/polar-orbiting satellites and CCTV detection networks. However, there remains significant challenges in developing the necessary sensing, navigation, coordination, and communication subsystems that enable intelligent UAV teams. Further, federal regulations governing UAV deployment and autonomy pose constraints on real-world aerial testing, creating a disconnect between theoretical research …

Exploring The Motivations And Determinants Of Farmer’S Market Consumers And Organic Specialty Crop Producers, Jane Arnold

All Theses

This two-chapter thesis evaluates the motivations and determinants of the central figures in farmers’ markets and organic markets. The first chapter explores the rise of farmers’ markets popularity through an in-person survey that was designed and distributed to 274 farmers' market consumers. Logit and ordered logit regressions were used to identify the motivations and characteristics that affect the likelihood of being a frequent farmers’ market customer (visiting 5 times or more per season) and spending over $50. The second chapter investigates the organic markets for cucumber and kale, which are dominant specialty crops on today’s grocery shelves. To identify the …

Impact Of Nitrogen Species On Algal Carbon Capture, Lauren J. Todd

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Increasing global carbon emissions from fossil fuel combustion and the resulting detrimental effects of climate change have created a need for atmospheric carbon drawdown. Biological-based carbon capture not only sequesters carbon dioxide (CO₂) but also provides a sustainable source of biomass for biofuels and biomaterials. Thus, the aim of this research was to examine freshwater green algal growth with total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) and nitrate nitrogen (NO₃-N) sources at high pH for improving carbon capture potential. The following objectives were accomplished: nitrogen uptake was identified as simultaneous or sequential, the effect of TAN and NO_{3 …}

The Game Is The Game: Othermothering And Hbcu Student Affairs Job Burnout: A Quantitative Study, Adolphus A. Mcdonald Iii

All Dissertations

This study investigated the use of othermothering as a relationship building approach in student affairs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and its association with job burnout outcomes in HBCU student affairs professionals. Job burnout outcomes affect job turnover intention decisions (Michaels & Spector, 1982); therefore, this quantitative study investigated whether othermothering and additional demographic factors were a root cause to job burnout and job turnover intention among HBCU SAPs. The review of literature provides knowledge on the foundation of othermothering which began as a term to describe Black slave women caring for children displaced and separated due to …

Frameworks For The Techno-Economic Assessment Of Membrane-Based Bioprocessing Platforms, Juan Jose Romero Conde

All Dissertations

This dissertation describes developing and implementing computational frameworks for simulating and optimizing purification processes in the biopharmaceutical industry. The framework performs techno-economic analyses to establish value propositions for new process alternatives, especially membrane technologies. Initially, the focus is developing a framework capable of simulating monoclonal antibody (mAb) capture using membrane and resin media in multi-column chromatography (MCC) platforms for continuous manufacturing. Subsequently, the impact of capture MCC is compared against other intensification strategies in established mAb manufacturing facilities. Finally, the framework application expands to simulate the purification of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors for gene therapy.

Chapter 2 details the framework …

Offensive Content Detection In Online Social Platforms, Ebuka Okpala

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Online social platforms enable users to connect with large, diverse audiences and the ability for a message or content to flow from one user to another user, user to followers, followers to user, and followers to followers. Of course, the advantages of this are apparent, and the dangers are also clearly obvious. The user-generated content could be abusive, offensive, or hateful to other users, possibly leading to adverse health effects or offline harm. As more of society's public discourse and interaction move online and these platforms grow and increase their reach, it is inherently important to protect the safety of …

Essays On Cho: An Investigation Of Industrially Relevant Stressors In Recombinant Protein Production, Benjamin Synoground

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Recombinant protein therapeutics have become integral in the treatment and prevention of an increasingly broad range of diseases and conditions. The vast majority of these biopharmaceuticals are produced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells due to their well-established expression systems, scalability, and ability to produce safe, human-compatible glycoproteins. Previous research has aimed to increase productivity while maintaining or improving product quality metrics, resulting in substantial improvements in product yields over the past forty years. This progress has been largely driven by 'omics and multivariate approaches, which offer valuable mechanistic insights and identify process bottlenecks.

Within this dissertation, CHO cell stress …

Investigating The Etiology, Epidemiology, And Ecology Of Blackberry Yellow Vein Disease In South Carolina, Wanita Dantes

All Dissertations

Blackberry production is growing in popularity in the southeastern U.S. However, blackberry growers in this region report major problems with productivity and longevity due to viruses. First, the state of knowledge on blackberry yellow vein disease (BVYD) complex, associated with mixed infections of a diverse group of viruses, is discussed. Specific viruses associated with symptom types are unknown. Therefore, the etiology of BYVD is not fully understood, which makes BYVD diagnosis challenging. My research focused on improving BYVD diagnosis, etiology, and epidemiology. Second, I developed a farm-level diagnostic protocol to improve virus disease surveillance. High throughput sequencing detected 17 known …

Fluid-Solid Coupled Analysis Of Biological Samples In A Flow Chamber Using Optical Coherence Tomography, Reece W. Fratus

All Dissertations

Forces from fluid flow on a tissue or cellular boundary can drive remodeling processes through mechanotransduction pathways. In most cases, the exact mechanisms are not understood, such as in marine biofilm development or vascular remodeling. To gain a better understanding of these interactions, the flow profile at a solid boundary and the mechanical changes of that solid can be coupled together to determine the impact of fluid flow on mechanical remodeling. To achieve this, optical coherence tomography (OCT) is used to image the fluid and solid simultaneously. Fluid seeded with particles can be imaged and run through a particle image …

Fundamental Study Of Nonlinear Electrophoresis, Joseph Armakan Bentor

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Classical electrophoretic theory describes the linear response of particles suspended in Newtonian fluids under weak electric fields. When the electric field exceeds this weak limit, a nonlinear response arises due to non-uniform surface conduction over the curved particles. This nonlinear behavior introduces dependencies on fluid and particle properties not considered in the classical theory, offering potential advantages for microfluidic particle manipulation. While this phenomenon has been extensively studied theoretically and numerically in Newtonian fluids, experimental investigations have been relatively limited.

Fluid rheology can significantly alter particle dynamics under applied electric fields. Rheological properties like shear-thinning and elasticity which are not …

Brought What I Needed To Succeed: Community Cultural Wealth In The Persistence Experiences Of Former Division Ii Black Women Basketball Players Who Graduated From Predominantly White Institutions, Tomiko T. Smalls

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Limited research exists to examine the persistence experiences of Black women student-athletes who graduated from predominantly White institutions and to explore their experiences at institutions with Division II membership. This purpose of this study was to examine factors related to the positive graduation outcomes of Black women student-athletes who graduated from predominantly White institutions. The research question was: How did former Division II Black women basketball players engage community cultural wealth to persist to graduation at predominantly White institutions? Five former Division II basketball players who graduated from predominantly White institutions located in the southeastern region of the United Stated …

Mental Health Of Healthcare Workers In Kosovo During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Latif Hoxha

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ABSTRACT

This study explored the mental health of healthcare practitioners in Kosovo during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the prevalence of stress, depression, and anxiety, and the associated individual, family, and work-related factors. The research employed a cross-sectional design with a sample of 449 healthcare workers from two hospitals in Kosovo. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assess mental health symptoms, while socio-demographic and work-related information was collected through a questionnaire.

Based on the descriptive statistics of DASS-21 scores, the prevalence of mental health issues among the participants included high levels of depression (18%), anxiety (25%), …

Contribution Of Collagen Type I To The Mechanical Properties Of Myocardial Tissues At The Micron Level, Adam Baker

All Dissertations

Collagen is a critical component of the organization and one of the key factors contributing to the mechanical stability of the myocardium. Where cardiomyocytes actuate to contract the heart and deliver blood to the lungs and the entire body, the local collagen network must be able to support the mechanical needs of the heart by enhancing rigidity, reducing the mechanical responsibility of cells, and increasing compliance to add loading capacity during diastole. At an organ-wide level, this has been measured and modeled in many ways. At the tissue level, the mechanical properties have been evaluated using techniques such as bi-axial …

Exploring Acetate Metabolism: Genetically Characterizing Acetate Production And Acetate Utilization In The Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus Neoformans, Rodrigo Catalan-Hurtado

All Dissertations

The basidiomycete Cryptococcus neoformans is an invasive opportunistic fungal pathogen and the most frequent cause of fungal meningitis resulting in approximately 112,000 deaths per year worldwide. Recently, the World Health Organization systematically prioritized fungal pathogens in which C. neoformans was among four fungal pathogens deemed critically important. Current methods of treatment are inadequate for most of the infected population; therefore, it is imperative to find novel therapeutic targets. Previous studies have shown that acetate is a major metabolite found in biopsies of C. neoformans infected mouse brain and lung tissues. Two potential pathways for acetate production have been identified. …

Assessment Of Tce And Chiral Pcb Dechlorination Rate, Congener Diversity, And Enantioselectivity In Town Creek, Sc, Usa Sediment Microcosms, Catherine P. Sumner

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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and trichloroethene (TCE) are ubiquitous contaminants and are recognized as persistent organic pollutants due to their extreme chemical stability. PCBs were manufactured by chlorinating biphenyls that created 209 congeners with various structures, of which 19 are chiral and can exist as a pair of stable atropisomers. PCBs have been known to cause developmental and neurological toxicity in humans and wildlife; they can act as endocrine disrupters, carcinogens, and teratogens. Sangamo Weston Inc. was an industrial plant located near Town Creek in Pickens Country, South Carolina, that manufactured capacitors and used Aroclors 1016 and 1254 as dialectic fluids …

Cyber Threats, Cyber Risks, And Cybersecurity Responses: Modeling Whole-Of-Nation Strategy Implementation For American Organizations And Citizens, Vincent Leon Guerrero

All Dissertations

Amid a landscape of cyber attacks on America occurring below the threshold of armed conflict, strategic national policy efforts recommend a whole-of-nation approach where individuals and public and private organizations increase their defensive posture in cyberspace. Motivation to address the risk of a cyber event includes a continuum of cyber threats that can range from low-level disruptive events to cybercrime and cyber espionage to the possibility of a potentially catastrophic attack on critical infrastructure. In this dissertation, I conduct a survey experiment of various cyber threat conditions and cyber policies to model cybersecurity responses, risk perceptions to a possible cyber …

Exploring The Synthesis Of Biobased And Chemically Recyclable Polysulfone Using Imine Chemistry, Vitasta Jain

All Dissertations

Plastic waste poses a major problem because of the chemical stability of these materials, leading to their accumulation in the environment and the leaching of toxic chemicals during their slow decomposition. Additionally, the use of depleting petroleum reserves for synthesis has made for an unsustainable production and risks due to use of chemicals hazardous to the environment and the individuals exposed to it.

To address these concerns, researchers have explored biobased feedstock and incorporating chemical recycling capabilities for a closed loop, sustainable process. One promising feedstock is lignin with its abundant functional groups that can be modified and utilized to …

No Longer Unseen Or Unheard: Exploring The Connectedness Of Campus Climate With Multiracial Students’ Experiences At Historically White Institutions In The United States, Christian Barrientos

All Dissertations

This qualitative research study will illustrate the link(s) between Multiracial students and their perceptions of campus climate at historically White institutions and how that impacts their sense of belonging. Existing bodies of literature and research have focused more extensively on monoracial students of color than Multiracial students. As a result, there is a formidable gap in the literature about how Multiracial students navigate their racial identity at historically White institutions and how multiracial students perceive campus climate based on their experienced sense of belonging. The use of Kellogg and Liddell (2012) will serve as a guide for this research study. …

Preparing For Kindergarten: An In-Depth Look At The Lived Experiences Of Parents Preparing A Child For Kindergarten, Grace Bache-Wiig

All Dissertations

The purpose of this multi-modal phenomenological study was to examine the lived experiences of parents preparing their first child for kindergarten and to evaluate the sources of information used to inform these experiences. Eight parents of rising kindergarteners were sampled for interviewing from preschool and homeschool settings in North Carolina. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore participant experiences and participants identified sources of information to be gathered for content analysis. The interview transcripts were analyzed using van Manen’s approach to identify units of meaning. Four major themes emerged from this study: emotions about kindergarten readiness, an emphasis on social and …

Disrupting The Cascade: Using Improvement Science To Mitigate Negative Outcomes Associated With Exclusionary Discipline Practices In Schools, Katelyn Singleton

All Dissertations

The use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools has continued to increase since the advent of Zero Tolerance discipline policies in the 1990s. Research indicates that these practices are largely ineffective in addressing behavior, and result in detrimental outcomes for students and communities. This study focused on the use of Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs) as a form of exclusionary discipline. Using an improvement science design, the purpose of this study was to identify how DAEPs can be leveraged to mitigate negative outcomes associated with exclusionary discipline. Specifically, this study sought to understand how implementing explicit skill instruction and adult …

Navigating Crises In Education: A Study Of Communication Strategies In Pk-12 Public School Districts, Darian Byrd

All Dissertations

This study explores the crisis communication strategies utilized by superintendents and communication leaders in PK-12 public school districts, focusing on their structural, human resource, political, and symbolic dimensions. Employing a qualitative, multi-site, multi-case study approach, this research delves into the communication frameworks, practices, and decision-making processes during crises, providing a comprehensive understanding of effective crisis management in educational settings.

The research is anchored in Bolman and Deal’s Four-Frame Model, which offers a multidimensional perspective on organizational analysis. By integrating this theoretical framework, the study examines how different communication strategies align with structural, human resource, political, and symbolic aspects …

Do I Belong?, Audrey Gilden

All Dissertations

To measure students' Social-Emotional-Learning (SEL), Lowcountry School District (LSD) administers Panorama Education surveys to students, teachers, and staff twice a year. The mission of the surveys is to support educators in radically improving student outcomes with data. Students are given two surveys: 1) Student SEL Competency & Well-Being and 2) Student Supports & Environment. The first survey focuses on supportive relationships and self-management, while the second focuses on teacher-student relationships, sense of belonging, and school climate. Looking specifically at the Student Supports & Environment survey, two areas of concern are school climate and sense of belonging. School climate measures the …

On Counter-Memes: A Rhetorical Study Of Allyship In Social Media Memetics From 2015-2024, Kaitlyn Samons

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This dissertation examines the importance of Online allyship through a newly coined term in Memetics and Mis- and Disinformation: “Counter-Memeship.” This work combines previous contributing works on “memes,” “counter-memes,” “counter-stories,” and “allyship” through the lens of feminist, white, and communication theories. Internet memes and studies are explored by looking at how Online participants in internet spaces interact with each other in modern-day protests in memetic ways. The researcher utilizes descriptive and exploratory methods to articulate better how internet memes work between 2015 and 2024. The primary purpose of this research is to see whether Online protests can be considered non-performative …

Exploring The Use Of Social Media Among Theme Park Guests: A Uses And Gratification Theory Approach, William J. Henderson

All Dissertations

Theme parks have provided billions of dollars to the local economies of tourist destinations (Blair & Rush, 1998; Warden, 2019). In the digital age, the theme park experience is shared with vast online audiences and so there is a need to understand how theme parks are presented on social media from the guest perspective. Specifically, it is vital to understand the uses and gratifications of social media use and content creation from guests and influencers within a theme park context.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory serves as a foundational theory for this research to understand the psychological gratifications found through …

The Development Of A Novel Cartilage Analog Scaffold For Chondral Regeneration, Vishal Thomas

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Focal Chondral Defects (FCDs) are cartilage injuries that affect about 900,000 Americans every year. Left untreated, these may lead to osteoarthritis and eventually necessitate painful knee replacements. Current treatment options are limited in terms of durability, cost, and availability of grafts. Tissue engineering, using natural scaffolds, are a highly attractive alternative promising cost efficiency, abundance, and long-term benefits. However, their low mechanical strength and dense matrices are impediments that could lead to sub-optimal repair.

In this work, a natural biomaterial, the bovine nucleus pulposus (bNP), derived from intervertebral disc tissue, was identified as a candidate scaffold for cartilage regeneration. Mechanical …

Addressing The Black-White Ap Participation Gap: An Improvement Science Project, Gales Scroggs

All Dissertations

Advanced Placement (AP) courses have become an essential preparation for college, and the benefits of AP participation for students are plentiful. AP courses allow students to earn higher grade point averages in high school, stand out in the college admissions process, and increase their likelihood of graduating college with a degree in four years. The benefits experienced by Black AP students may be even more significant. However, Black students have lagged behind their White peers in AP enrollment since the inception of the AP program. This study examined the influence of targeted, counselor-led academic advisement on the AP enrollment of …

Value Of Transportation Information Systems: Implications Of Digital Platforms, Third-Party Forecasting, And Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems, Ali Shirzadibabakan

All Dissertations

This three-essay dissertation focuses on understanding the impacts of IT, or IT enabled business models, on transportation and supply chains. Specifically, it empirically examines the market and societal implications of digital freight platforms, third-party forecasting, and cyber-physical systems in the transportation and supply chain sectors. Leveraging the entry of the Amazon Freight platform into the trucking freight industry as an exogenous shock, the first essay finds that adding a digital platform-enabled spot marketplace addresses the prevalent problem of the performance (rejection) of nonbinding contracts in the trucking industry. Specifically, the platform’s effect manifests through two primary mechanisms: increasing suppliers’ transportation …

Virtually Coached Nature-Based Activities For Perceived Stress In Rural-Dwelling Families With A Teenager With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Deborah R. Logan

All Dissertations

Families with teenagers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can experience more stress than families without teenagers with ASD due to individuals with ASD often exhibiting social behaviors that differ from social norms, and parents having to adjust their expectations and future goals for their child with ASD. Rural-dwelling families of teenagers with ASD may experience additional stress due to their having to travel to access therapeutic services. Research focused on family-based services aimed at decreasing stress among rural-dwelling families of teenagers with ASD is lacking. The purpose of this convergent mixed methods study was to explore the feasibility of an …

Fantastic Trolls And Where To Find Them: Problem Framing In The Defense Against The Informational Dark Arts, Jayson M. Warren

All Dissertations

In the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the notion of state-sponsored trolls engaging in information operations on social media has captured the attention of society. Yet eight years after this policymaking focusing event, sustainable solutions prove elusive and there is still much that is not known about the underlying phenomenon. This dissertation is part explanatory and part exploratory in its attempts to answer the overarching research question: What is the Relationship Between How the Problem of State-Sponsored Trolls on Social Media is Framed & the Way U.S. Federal Policy Attempts to Solve It? Using …

Ah, You’Re One Of Those Entrepreneurs: An Investigation Into Investors’ Evaluations And Support Of Typecasted Entrepreneurs, Jonathan C. Preedom

All Dissertations

Chapter 1: In this qualitative study, I examine how entrepreneurial investors assess and decide which early-stage ventures to support based on the entrepreneurial pitch. These decisions are made in highly uncertain environments where the risk of incorrect evaluations is significant. Drawing on the literature on categorization and sensemaking, I induce a typology of five common ways investors typecast entrepreneurs based on salient auditory and visual cues from the pitch. This work provides an important foundation for understanding biases in the investor-entrepreneur dynamic, as well as the implications of such typecasting for entrepreneurial resource support.

Chapter 2: In this quantitative study, …