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Implementation Of Anyaka Makwiri: A Multicomponent Mentoring Program For Adolescent Girls And Young Women In Uganda, Kate Plourde, Geeta Nanda, Elise Healy, Dennis Kibwola

Journal of Youth Development

This article describes the development and implementation of the Anyaka Makwiri program and summarizes results from the qualitative assessment of participant experiences. Anyaka Makwiri is a multicomponent mentoring program developed for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) ages 15 to 24 in Gulu, Uganda. The comprehensive program consisted of a curriculum covering sexual and reproductive health (SRH), financial capabilities, soft skills, and gender-based violence and gender equality; activities designed to improve participants’ social connectedness; optional onsite testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV, and pregnancy along with STI treatment; group-based savings; and links to SRH services, including contraceptive and gender-based …

Positive Youth Development In Senegal: A Case Study Of 4-H Senegal, Thomas Archibald, Bineta Guisse, Amadou Ndiaye, Fatimata Kane

Journal of Youth Development

African youth face great challenges and great opportunities. Positive youth development (PYD) programs have the potential to support youth in Africa to reach their full potential. Yet PYD approaches must be tailored if they are to be contextually and culturally responsive and relevant. The purpose of this paper is to provide an evidence-informed description of one such program, the 4-H Senegal PYD program. We first provide a conceptual background for the program, informed especially by the literature on global and cross-cultural PYD. We then share empirical results of a qualitative case study focused on the establishment, scale-up, and institutionalization of …

Listening To Youth Through 17 Cross-Sectoral Youth Assessments: Implications For Programming And Policy, Cassandra Jessee, Audrey Marie Moore, Christy Olenik, Chelsea Pallatino Trevelline

Journal of Youth Development

Between 2015 and 2020, USAID invested in 17 country-focused and regional youth assessments to investigate young people’s priorities and needs. This article analyzes the results of those assessments and their implications for youth programming and policy in low- and middle-income countries. Primary data collection, document review, and secondary data analysis form the basis for the findings presented in the article. Our analysis across all assessments focused on identifying the most marginalized and vulnerable youth within each country of focus and understanding youth’s priorities and the barriers and facilitators for achieving them across the sectors. Securing a decent livelihood was the …

Alterations In The Leaf Lipidome Of Brassica Carinata Under High-Temperature Stress, Zolian Zoong Lwe, Saroj Sah, Leelawatti Persaud, Jiaxu Li, Wei Gao, K. Raja Reddy, Sruthi Narayanan

Open Access Publishing Fund

Background: Brassica carinata (A) Braun has recently gained increased attention across the world as a sustainable biofuel crop. B. carinata is grown as a summer crop in many regions where high temperature is a significant stress during the growing season. However, little research has been conducted to understand the mechanisms through which this crop responds to high temperatures. Understanding traits that improve the high-temperature adaption of this crop is essential for developing heat-tolerant varieties. This study investigated lipid remodeling in B. carinata in response to high-temperature stress. A commercial cultivar, Avanza 641, was grown under sunlit-controlled environmental conditions in Soil-Plant-Atmosphere-Research …

2021 Annual Accountability Report, Clemson University

Accountability Reports

Clemson University's 2020-2021 Annual Accountability Report submitted to the South Carolina Budget and Control Board.

Clemson Commencement Program, August 2021, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Overexpression Of Non-Photochemical Quenching (Npq) Related Genes Alters Plant Development And Enhances Plant Osmotic Stress Resistance In Creeping Bentgrass, Zihe Zhu

All Theses

Photosynthesis, an important pathway for plants to accumulate organic matters, is critical for plant productivity. This process transforms the carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and releases oxygen. However, when the light intensity is too high, more reactive oxygen species (ROS) is generated in the photochemical reaction center, leading to the photodamage of plants. Plants have evolved different photoprotection mechanisms, such as Non-photochemical Quenching (NPQ), to prevent this damage at the expense of photosynthetic rate. NPQ converts excess light energy into heat energy and dissipates it, avoiding damage to plants under excessive light. Overexpression of photoprotection proteins violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE), …

Root System Architecture That Improves Biomass Production And Yield Of Soybean, Enoch Noh

All Theses

Soybean [Glycine max (L.)] is the most important oilseed and one of the most important and affordable protein sources worldwide. Enhancing the acquisition of belowground resources has been identified as an opportunity for improving soybean productivity worldwide. Root architecture is gaining interest as a selection criterion in breeding programs for enhancing soil resource acquisition and developing climate-resilient varieties. The objective of this research was to investigate whether root system characteristics are related with aboveground growth and yield of 11 selected soybean genotypes under rainfed conditions. Our goal was to identify beneficial root traits and genotypes that can be included in …

Examining The Types Of Capital Benefits Afforded To Low-Income Individuals By Adult Financial Literacy Programs, Dustin Tyler Love

All Theses

This paper explores the capital benefits derived from financial literacy programs and used as a means of poverty alleviation. Specifically, this paper focuses on cultural, social, and human capital. Examining financial literacy through the lens of capital allows one to explore how financial literacy is achieved through capital development. Unfortunately, access to this capital is limited and controlled by our social institutions. In conducting nine semi-structured interviews with coaches and participants of two separate financial literacy programs, findings show that participants do derive all three forms of capital. However, social capital and the fictive kinship relationships that were developed as …

Teachers' Conceptualizations And Experiences With Steam Instruction In The Early Childhood Classroom In Connection With Children's Social Emotional Competencies, Amanda Elizabeth Bennett

All Dissertations

The early childhood years are a unique and distinctive time where teachers can provide children with opportunities to cultivate not only academic skills, but also foster their social emotional competencies (SEC) to prepare them for their future endeavors. For children to be successful in an early childhood education (ECE) program, teachers must be equipped with the appropriate knowledge and skills to foster students’ academic and social emotional development. One method of improving teacher effectiveness is through the use of professional development (PD) opportunities. Providing teachers with effective and meaningful PD opportunities is especially important when introducing novel instructional approaches, such …

“I Try Not To Eat No Food ’Cause I Don’T Really Have That Much”: Investigating Food System Policies And Institutions That Could Best Address Food Insecurity In Pickens County, Sc, Cassius Hossfeld

All Theses

Food insecurity refers to the inability to access enough food, and enough quality food, to live an active and healthy life (USDA 2019a). In 2019, the U.S. food insecurity rate was approximately 10.5% (USDA 2019a). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic these national rates increased to at least a peak of 13.9% in 2020 (Feeding America 2021). There are national, state, and local policies, programs, and food systems that aim to address food insecurity (each having varying degrees of success). The context of this thesis focuses specifically on Pickens County, SC. A relatively large county in the Upstate and Appalachia …

An Exploration Of Outdoor Recreation Experiences Among Adults With Developmental Disabilities: Benefits, Constraints, And Facilitators, Merry Armstrong

All Theses

Between 2009-2017, 17% of youth were diagnosed with a developmental disability (DD) in the United States. These individuals have specific physical, emotional/psychological, and social needs that can require extra support in order to participate fully in recreation activities. The benefits of participating in outdoor recreation are abundant. Unfortunately, little is known about individuals with DDs’ experiences in outdoor recreation participation, and the factors that constrain or facilitate their participation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore adults with DDs’ perceived benefits of outdoor recreation, and the constraints or facilitators that affect their participation. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted …

Genetic And Functional Diversity Of Clade A Endosymbionts From The Bahamas And Florida, Nichole Marie Giani

All Theses

Lucinidae clams are known to harbor environmentally acquired endosymbionts within their gills. Although there has been recent work on the genomic and functional diversity of lucinid endosymbionts, there are uncertainties regarding the extent of their diversity and differences in metabolisms under various environmental conditions. In this study, the genetic and functional differences in endosymbionts was examined for six lucinid host species collected from eight total sites from Florida, USA and San Salvador, the Bahamas. There were 42 metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) generated which clustered into three species and six subspecies. MAGs were closely related to clade A endosymbionts Candidatus Thiodiazotropha …

Design And Studies Of Cvd Graphene-Based Membranes On Modified Support For Water Treatment Applications, Mansour Saberi

All Theses

Although almost 70% of the world is covered by water, less than 3% is fresh. The remainder—most of the Earth’s water is saline. To meet humanity’s increasing and unavoidable need for water, we must convert saline water into freshwater through desalination. Many desalination technologies are available, and membrane-based technologies, such as reverse osmosis (RO), are widely used. Though RO is especially common, desalination through RO faces several challenges. For example, high operation cost due to high pressure during the process or its degradable polymeric active layer in contact with chlorine-containing compounds. In terms of general functionality and energy consumption, water …

Were The "Best Made Better" Without In-Person Programming? Content Analysis Of Extension 4-H Programming During The Covid-19 Pandemic In South Carolina, Lauren Burdine Hood

All Theses

Since 1902, 4-H Youth Development programs have been implemented by Cooperative Extension Agents or Educators for teaching, influencing, and leading youth to new life skills that can shape and influence their futures. The motto of 4-H is “learn by doing” and is practiced with a hands-on learning approach. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 4-H programs and clubs around the nation were confined to home or distance learning and no group interaction, some even still confined to virtual-only events. This study analyzes how 4-H, specifically in South Carolina, was implemented without meeting in person. 4-H participants and their parents in South Carolina …

Interaction Techniques For In-The-Moment Privacy Control Over Data Generated By Wearable Technologies, Byron M. Lowens

All Dissertations

Wearable technologies provide users with actionable insights regarding personal health information because of their ability to capture and analyze data continuously and in-the-moment through their rich set of sensors. While these technologies offer the advantages of conveniently capturing personal health data and behaviors outside of a clinical setting, they pose significant privacy challenges. Wearables continuously collect and store sensitive personal information about the wearer. In some instances, personal information amassed by a wearable may be shared without user awareness. In addition to the privacy-invasive risks posed by wearable technologies, executing usable privacy control directly on wearables poses an even greater …

Spatial Distributions Of Arthropods In Soybean And Implications For Pest Management, Anthony Daniel Greene

All Dissertations

Site-specific management of insect pests of field crops has the potential to decrease control costs and environmental impacts associated with traditional pest management tactics, but the success of these programs relies on the accurate characterization of arthropod distributions within a crop. Although the expense of the fine-scale spatial sampling required for management zone identification in fields may offset the overall reduction in costs achieved with site-specific pest management, the correlation of arthropod counts with ground-based and remotely sensed field attribute data could help to make site-specific pest management programs more profitable. In this study, we chose to determine how insect …

Biology And Genetic Variability Of The Leaf Galling Nematode Ditylenchus Gallaeformans, Samara Azevedo De Oliveira

All Dissertations

The plant parasitic nematode Ditylenchus gallaeformans induces galls on stems, leaves, and inflorescences of Melastomataceae plants in Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Due to its specificity to Melastomataceae and severity of symptoms, this nematode has been considered as a possible biological control agent against invasive species of Miconia. Little is known about D. gallaeformans biology, genetic differences among populations, and host genotype specificity. I investigated the population structure and genetic differences among populations from Costa Rica, Dominica and Trinidad collected from different host species. Phylogenetic reconstructions, haplotype networks, and analysis of molecular variance showed strong genetic structure among …

Pediatric Asthma Management: Navigating Child, Family, Healthcare, And Community Factors, Laura Rolke

All Dissertations

Pediatric asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood and disproportionately impacts Black/African American and low-income children. Pediatric asthma management involves regular clinical follow-up, medication adherence, trigger management, and asthma education. This dissertation focuses on the outpatient / primary care management of asthma among Medicaid-insured children ages seven-to-twelve in South Carolina. Chapters 1 & 2 provide an introduction and background to pediatric asthma and pediatric asthma management. The Pediatric Self-Management Model is introduced and discussed to identify modifiable and non-modifiable factors that influence the processes and behaviors of pediatric asthma management. Chapter 3 follows by introducing the methodology for …

Evaluating Pea (Pisum Sativum L.) For Nutritional Traits And Implications For Organic Agriculture And Biofortification, Sarah Powers

All Dissertations

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important cool season food legume for sustainable food production and human nutrition due to its nitrogen fixation capabilities and nutrient-dense seed. However, phosphorus (P) can be a major limiting nutrient for pea production, as their nodules require additional amounts of P to perform and maintain nitrogen fixation activity, and for adequate biomass and yield. To determine if genetic variation exists in pea’s ability to take up and remobilize P from the soil, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to collect tissues at two developmental stages from plants grown under a normal and reduce P …

Intersections Of Ageism And Gender Stigma: Exploring Long-Term Care Employees’ Attitudes Towards Aging, Tarah Loy

All Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods, single case study was to explore long-term care (LTC) employees’ attitudes towards age and gender. The intersection of Rosemary Garland-Thomson’s theory of feminist disability (2001) and Hailee Gibbons’ compulsory youthfulness theory (2016) provided the conceptual framework for this project. The sample consisted of 60 LTC direct care employees, all employed at the same organization, who completed an on-line survey during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey consisted of demographic questions and the Fraboni Scale of Ageism. Twenty-one of these employees participated in a 30 minute phone interview. Cultural artifacts were also collected. Although quantitative results …

Effects Of Exogenous Glucocorticoid Infusion At Birth On Appetitic Center Brain Development During Early Postnatal Life And Its Impact On Voluntary Feed Intake In Beef Cattle, Keelee Jae Mccarty

All Dissertations

The objective of study was to determine the effects of exogenous cortisol administration on leptin concentrations relative to 1) appetitic center development of the hypothalamus by gene expression in dairy bull calves and 2) altered voluntary feed intake in beef calves. In experiment 1, Holstein bull calves (n = 27) were weighed and randomly assigned to treatments within four hours of parturition (day 0). Each calf was intravenously infused with either a low cortisol (LC; n = 9, 3.5 ug/kg of body weight (BW)), high cortisol (HC; n = 9, 7.0 ug/kg of BW), or a sham infusion control (CON; …

Genetic Contribution To Growth Of Cryptococcus Neoformans In The Environment Of The Human Host, Piotr Ryszard Stempinski

All Dissertations

Cryptococcus neoformans is an environmental basidiomycetous fungus and opportunistic pathogen that primarily infects the immunocompromised patients. The ability to adapt to mammalian body temperature is essential for survival and successful virulence. Cryptococcus neoformans relies on a multiple complex signaling network and virulence factors for the adaptation and survival in the environment of human host. This dissertation presents result of genetic screen assay performed on 4,031 gene knockout strains of C. neoformans. The analysis has resulted in identification of 46 genes with significant contribution to the maximum temperature at which C. neoformans can proliferate. Our research described previously uncharacterized genes that …

Racial Residential Segregation And Race Differences In Ideal Cardiovascular Health Among Young Men, Samuel L. K. Baxter, Richard Chung, Leah Frerichs, Roland J. Thorpe, Ashley C. Skinner, Morris Weinberger

Open Access Publishing Fund

Background: Race disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) related morbidity and mortality are evident among men. While previous studies show health in young adulthood and racial residential segregation (RRS) are important factors for CVD risk, these factors have not been widely studied in male populations. We sought to examine race differences in ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) among young men (ages 24–34) and whether RRS influenced this association. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from young men who participated in Wave IV (2008) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 5080). The dichotomous outcome, achieving ideal CVH, was …

Disease And Disaster: Navigating Food Insecurity In A Community Affected By Crises During Covid-19, Andrew S. Pyle, Michelle Eichinger, Barry A. Garst, Catherine Mobley, Sarah F. Griffin, Leslie H. Hossfeld, Mike Mcgirr, Helen R. Saunders

Publications

This exploratory study examines how a community experiencing food insecurity while navigating multiple crises can be a model to inform resources, processes, and systems supporting communities facing similar circumstances. Data for this study were collected from residents of a community in Oconee County, a rural county in the northwest corner of South Carolina experiencing pervasive food insecurity. The community was severely impacted by the onset of COVID-19 and further devastated by a tornado in mid-April. The area of the county that sustained the greatest damage from the tornado was the Utica Mill Hill community, home to the county’s most vulnerable …

Clemson Commencement Program, May 2021, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

The Self Outside: A Nearly Concealed Shared Heart, Lori Brook Johnson

All Theses

Rearranging past moments to reveal a nearly concealed shared heart, the work finds people who quickly pass through the gaze of the camera and translates the moment into a pigment referred to here as pastel’d dirt to draw out evidence of an awareness of ourselves in another.

As a salve to separation, the drawings are composed through amalgamated archival footage into a wavering pastiche of historical and contemporary art. This salve is applied via materials that are resolute and vulnerable (pastels both grip and dissolve, travel and saturate), and is thereby used to draw into our inevitable severance from one …

Genome-Wide Association Studies Of Antimicrobial Activity In Global Sorghum [Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench], Lindsay Kaye Shields

All Theses

Sorghum is a common feed grain globally with vast genetic and phytochemical diversity that may provide numerous health benefits, including its aptitude as an antimicrobial feed grain. This study highlights the antimicrobial potential of a collection of 384 diverse sorghum accessions against two prominent foodborne pathogens, Clostridium perfringens and Salmonella enterica. Following extensive screening, we determined that sorghum grain extract is more efficient at inhibiting C. perfringens than S. enterica. Antimicrobial activity observed against C. perfringens was not significantly correlated with either total phenols (r = 0.12) or tannin concentration (r = 0.12). Moreover, we mapped loci associated …

Development Of A Management Zone Scoring Index & Economic Returns Of Grid & Management Zone Soil Sampling In Coastal Plain Soils Of The Southeastern United States, Alexander M. Coleman

All Theses

Precision agriculture seeks to improve conventional farming practices through the use of Management Zones (MZ). There are many ways to create MZs and it’s not always easy to decide which MZ would provide optimal results for the specified application. Good MZs should have little variation within a zone, but large differences when compared to other zones. Previous research has been inconsistent on the ability of MZs to capture yield variation. One objective of this research was the development and application of the Management Zone Scoring Index (MZSI) to assess efficacy of 13 zone delineation methods at capturing yield data variation. …

In Vivo Analysis Of An Injectable Tannic Acid Crosslinked Collagen Type I Bead Scaffold For Tissue Regeneration Post-Lumpectomy, Kylie King

All Theses

Among women, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, affecting about 1 in every 8 women. It accounts for approximately 30% of new cancer diagnoses and is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women in developed countries. Current treatment options for breast cancer are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Unfortunately, there are negative side effects associated with each of these, and they may not work for every patient. In addition, local breast cancer recurrence presents a high risk, especially for patients undergoing lumpectomy procedures. The goal of this project is to alleviate these …