Digital Commons Network^™

Where Do We Go Now: An Examination Of The Role Of 3d Modeling In Cancer Research, Ella Claire Gregory, Hannah Noelle Cochran

ABE 4523/6523 Biomedical Materials

The development of three-dimensional tumor models has become an important area of cancer research. By incorporating biomaterials that can mimic the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the tumor environment. 3D models can provide a more physiologically relevant environment for studying tumor growth, cell interaction, metastasis, and drug response.

Demographic And Socioeconomic Factors Influence Perceived Community Needs And Risk Factors For Firearm Violence In Mississippi, Masoumeh Karimi, Matthew Morris, Xiaoshan Gordy, Matthew Kutcher, Leila Seidfaraji, Michelle Brassfield, Erin Dehon, Alyscia Severance, Rukia Lumumba, Fredrick Womack, Lei Zhang

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: The burden of firearm-related injuries and deaths is not borne equally across sociodemographic groups. The present study investigated the perceived needs and risk factors of firearm related injuries and mortality across gender, education, and income levels through a quantitative needs assessment completed by community members and firearm injury survivors living in the greater Jackson, Mississippi, metropolitan area.

Methods: A total of 93 participants including gunshot wound patients, survivors and community members who have been recruited through community organizations completed the needs assessment survey collecting data on demographic information, firearm exposure, substance use, community exposure to crime and …

Pilot Evaluation Of A Cross-Disciplinary Training Addressing Substance Use Among Mississippi Mothers, Saijun Zhang, Catherine Poehling, Xiaoshan Gordy, Chinedu P. Chukwu, Jerome R. Kolbo, Masoumeh Karimi, Matthew Morris, Andrew Voluse, Erin Dehon, Michelle Brassfield, Danielle Lahn, Lisa Slade, Deanna Howington, Kathleen Rhodes, Tearsenee Davis, Sonja Fuqua, Lei Zhang

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use co-occurring is often managed in siloed systems. Training IPV and related service providers on substance use topics may strengthen screening, response, and referral.

Purpose: To assess whether a pilot training program on substance use disorders (SUDs) in Mississippi improved service providers’ knowledge, preparedness, and attitudes around substance use and satisfaction with the training.

Methods: Pre–post surveys were administered to healthcare and community service providers who completed the training, assessing substance use service-related knowledge, preparedness, and attitudes.  Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to analyze the data.

Results: Fifty-nine providers completed a …

Response To Reviewers — Emancipations Symposium On Profit And Power, Ronen Palan

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

The Age Of Intangible Assets: Thoughts On Palan’S Profit And Power, James K. Galbraith

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

“Don’T Tell Me To Keep Doing What I’M Doing, When I’M Risking My Life Trying To Get You To Do Your Job”: Thoughts On The Politics Of Distance, Alice Chapman

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

No abstract provided.

Eviscerating The State: An Update, Jean L. Cohen

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

A year after the publication of her article “Eviscerating the State: The New Oligarchic and Authoritarian Project to Undermine American Constitutional Democracy (Emancipations, Vol.4: Iss.2, July 2025) Jean Cohen looks again at the threats to American constitutional democracy posed by new oligarchic and authoritarian actors in the economy, the state, and society.

From Monopoly To Orchestration: The Hilltop And Farm Youth And The Changing Organization Of State Coercion - The Israeli Case, Idan Yaron

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

Drawing on more than a decade of ethnographic fieldwork – as a social anthropologist, studying the Far Right in Israel, on the ground, and through intimate and prolonged relationships with opinion leaders and rank-and-file activists – this essay examines the Hilltop and Farm Youth in the West Bank to reconsider Charles Tilly's influential account of state formation and the organization of coercion. It asks a simple but troubling question: why would a powerful modern state, fully capable of suppressing autonomous violent actors, sometimes allow them to persist? I argue that Tilly's theory should be confirmed, adapted, and amended. His fundamental …

Uneven And Combined Fascism: A Postapocalyptic Perspective, Daniel Loick

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

This essay develops the concept of “uneven and combined fascism” as an alternative to dominant liberal approaches that understand fascism primarily as a future rupture or return of the European past. Analogizing the crisis of democracy with environmental crisis, it argues that fascism, like ecological catastrophe, should be understood as an ongoing and differentially distributed condition: already present for some while remaining latent or emergent for others. The essay develops this claim by consulting approaches of "postapocalyptic environmentalism" as well as thinkers and activists from the Black Radical Tradition, particularly the analyses of Aimé Césaire and the Civil Rights Congress’s …

Border Fascism And The Fascistization Of Society, Nicholas P. De Genova

Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis

The massive destruction and social dislocation wrought by capitalist crisis has culminated, historically, in the brutal cataclysms of fascism and other forms of authoritarian rule. Today, across the globe, we are confronted with the aggressive advance and entrenchment of a variety of such authoritarian political projects. Anxious discourses about ascendant fascism have become perfectly mainstream. These developments command our acute attention and critical analysis. This essay addresses these dire questions and the conceptual vexations surrounding the concept of fascism, particularly as it has been elaborated in various Marxist analyses.  Specifically, much of the debate around fascism as an analytical category …

Tpr2 Project Survey Instruments: Teacher Intention, Initial Employment, And Follow Up Surveys, Devon Brenner, Jenn Whitfield, Dana C. Outlaw, Dana P. Franz, Keith Hubbard

Publications

TPR2 Project Survey Instruments: Teacher Intention, Initial Employment, and Follow Up Surveys

This document contains three longitudinal survey instruments developed for the Investigating STEM Teacher Preparation and Rural Teacher Persistence and Retention (TPR2) project to examine the factors that influence pre-service and early-career teachers' decisions about the geographic location in which they choose to teach, with particular attention to rural and small-town placement. The surveys track participants across three key stages of the teacher pipeline: entry into a teacher preparation program, transition into initial employment, and completion of the first year of professional teaching.

Teacher Intention Survey (TIS): Administered during …

Full Issue, Volume 14, Number 1., Donna J. Peterson Dr., Scott Cummings, Elizabeth Gregory North

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

No abstract provided.

Development And Validation Of The Global Impact Of Chronic Illness Scale – Universal, Abigail Kukay

Theses and Dissertations

The current manuscript presents the development and validation of the Global Impact of Chronic Illness Scale – Universal (GICIS-U), a novel measure of chronic illness impact through three separate studies. The pilot study aimed at measure development, which included item selection and two rounds of item refinement using feedback gained through four focus groups. Study 1 consisted of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to determine factor structure of the measure. Participants were 183 individuals recruited from an online participant pool and social media outlets who completed the refined GICIS-U online. Results of the EFA suggested a six-factor structure, of which …

Engineering Education Beyond The Engineering Classroom: Three Studies On Behavioral Nudges, General Education Completion, And Honors Program Participation, Andrew Harrison Volk

Theses and Dissertations

Engineering education extends well beyond the engineering classroom. Engineering undergraduates progress through general education courses, institutional support structures, and enrichment opportunities operating outside their major. The administrative offices that shape these non-engineering experiences typically operate independently of engineering departments, and the structural decisions they make can shape the engineering student's experience without engineering's input. This dissertation examines three settings in which decisions outside engineering matter for engineering students. Study 1 reports a PRISMA-format systematic review of nudge interventions in higher education, developing a four-category typology of nudge types (informational, environmental, process-oriented, and in-name-only) and a six-category typology of application domains. …

Thermomechanical Characterization And Modeling Of An Smp-Epoxy Composite For Deployable Space Structures, Ap Anshuman Behera

Theses and Dissertations

Deployable space structures can be stowed in a compact form and later allowed to their operational shape. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites have been utilized as a material candidate due to their increased strength-to-weight ratio and tailored performance. Current challenges associated with CFRP composites are driven by the viscoelastic nature of the polymer matrix causing long-term stowage effects and deployment issues such as shape deformation and incomplete recovery. In this study, a shape memory polymer (SMP) is presented as a potential option in mitigating these issues. An epoxy SMP is synthesized and experimentally characterized and its performance in the …

Simulating Wind-Induced Temporal Variability In Gnss Transmissometry Via Coherent Bistatic Scattering, Brantley Allen Forrest

Theses and Dissertations

Global Navigation Satellite System Transmissometry is a technique for forest remote sensing. Interpreting these measurements requires physically based models to relate observed signal behavior to underlying biophysical parameters. A limitation of current electromagnetic modeling approaches is the assumption that vegetation optical depth is static. In practice, forest canopies, and therefore vegetation optical depth, are dynamic systems continuously influenced by wind. These geometric changes alter the scattering environment and introduce temporal variability in the received signal, particularly through phase-sensitive multipath interactions. This thesis presents a methodology for simulating wind dynamics for first-order scattering. The approach integrates a procedural, stochastic aeroelastic wind …

Ocean Salinity Effects On Lightning Frequency And Distribution In The Inner Core Of Tropical Cyclones In The Atlantic Basin, Desiree Knight

Theses and Dissertations

Different oceanic salinity profiles seen in the Atlantic have been found to influence tropical cyclone (TC) intensity. With the freshwater plume from the Amazon-Orinoco reaching into a TC development region during peak hurricane season, the stable ocean feature it creates has effects on SST, ocean mixing, enthalpy fluxes, and convection. This study investigates the relationship between sea surface salinity (SSS) and inner-core lightning of north Atlantic TCs and further explores the spatial variations of this relationship with TC intensity. SSS values are collocated with lightning flashes, which are split between “fresher” and “saltier” waters. Further investigations found that TCs have …

How Family Functioning Impacts Adolescent Outcomes: The Roles Of Cohesion, Flexibility, Communication, Satisfaction, And The Family Environment On Well-Being Across Levels Of Family Complexity, Emily E. Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research is a combination of two studies. The overarching and guiding focus for this study involved how family functioning and environments influence adolescent psychological well-being, and do these associations vary based on levels of family complexity. Study 1 examined family complexity and family environments as potential predictors of family functioning, while Study 2 examined family functioning and family complexity as potential predictors of adolescent negative (i.e., anxiety and depression) and positive (i.e., engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness) well-being. In Study 1, family complexity was not predictive of family functioning, but the family environment was a strong predictor. …

Exploring Rural Ap Stem Motivation, Interests, And Aspirations: A Self-Determination Theory Lens, Erin Seger Mcguire

Theses and Dissertations

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have become the focal point of many countries around the world, with the intention of strengthening national renown by being the first to make advancements in STEM domains. The United States has recognized the importance of STEM and STEM education, though these efforts are lacking in rural areas, like Mississippi. These schools often serve underrepresented populations and may be unable to financially support learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Additionally, the national teacher shortage disproportionately affects science and mathematics classes; in rural schools, teachers in these areas may be underqualified, as the schools …

Development Of Genomic Tools To Improve Science-Based Management Of American Black Bears (Ursus Americanus), Fabian A. Jimenez

Theses and Dissertations

American black bear (Ursus americanus) monitoring programs often use minimally invasive genetic monitoring techniques (hair snares) to estimate abundance and density. Historically, microsatellites have been used to identify individuals from hair samples and create mark-recapture histories to estimate population size. However, microsatellite-based genotyping requires multiple replicates and visual confirmation of consensus genotypes. Advances in genetic sequencing technology have led to methods like Genotyping-in-Thousands by sequencing (GT-seq), which allow automated genotyping using bioinformatic pipelines, thereby reducing the number of replicate samples required to confirm genotypes and increasing data portability. We developed a GT-seq panel for individual identification of black bears using …

Sustainable Approaches For Water Remediation And Soil Amendment, Hashani Abeysinghe Herath Mudiyanselage

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrosphere decontamination and sustainable agriculture are economic, health, and environmental concerns. Conventional non-destructive and destructive water treatment methods, and fertilizer formulations, can be expensive or ineffective. Biochar-nutrient composites have gained global acceptance as adsorbents or soil additives due to biochar’s modifiable surfaces, enabling enhanced performance and environmental benefits. This dissertation studied sustainable methods for removal of aqueous arsenic(V) by adsorption and destruction of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in liquid ammonia by defluorination and fertilizing phosphorus-deficient soil. Chapter II focuses on the surface morphological and physicochemical changes in alkali-exposed microparticulate magnetite-deposited rice husk (RH) biochar (Fe3O4@RHBC) relative to its pristine …

Analyzing The Relationship Between Financial And Real Estate Investment And Agricultural Land Values., Hudu Abukari

Theses and Dissertations

Using agricultural transaction data from 2019 to the first quarter of 2023 provided by a major financial lender in Mississippi, I assess the relationship between financial and real estate buyers and agricultural land prices. Grantor and grantee information in the data allowed me to classify buyers into individuals, non-individual agribusinesses, and financial and real estate buyers. A hedonic pricing model is used to explore the relationship. The study concluded that the buyer type of agricultural land matters. More specifically, financial and real estate buyers pay a premium more than individuals and agribusiness buyers.

Optimization Of Punicalagin-Releasing In Situ Forming Microparticles (Prism) For Treatment Of Osteoarthritis, J. Alejandra Amaya

Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by inflammation and degradation of articular cartilage, of which disease-modifying therapies are limited. Punicalagin (PUN), a polyphenol with cartilage-protective and anti-inflammatory properties, has inhibitory effects on matrix metalloproteinase-13 and pro-inflammatory cytokines. This study aims to optimize formulation of punicalagin-releasing in situ forming microparticles (PRISM) by varying polymer concentration, polymer ratio, solvent ratio, and oil-to-polymer ratio. Design of Experiment (DoE) software was used to generate 25 formulations. PRISM was created by emulsifying the polymer/drug solutions in sesame oil. Drug release data was measured via optical absorption readings and particle size determined by both scanning electron microscope (SEM) …

Comparative Analysis Of Spray Pattern Deposition In Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (Cots) U.S.-Manufactured Uncrewed Aerial Application System (Uaas), James Mackey Ikerd Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Uncrewed aerial application systems (UAAS) are increasingly used for agricultural spraying, but spray deposition uniformity and effective swath width can vary between platforms. This study evaluated spray-pattern deposition and effective swath width for two commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) UAAS platforms during manual and autonomous flight operations. Manual, single-pass testing was used to assess preliminary performance and spray characteristics for both UAAS. Further autonomous multi-pass and single-pass evaluations were conducted to assess deposition uniformity and in-swath variability for both UAAS utilizing two methods of evaluation: Operation Self-regulating Application & Flight Efficiency (S.A.F.E.) pattern testing for manual flight evaluation and the Swath Gobbler …

They Not For Us: Reimagining Social-Emotional Learning For Black Youth, Jennifer Chinecherem Ani

Theses and Dissertations

Social-emotional learning (SEL) interventions are often implemented within a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework and have been found to be effective in improving students’ social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes. However, SEL interventions are typically implemented as a Tier I intervention and there is limited research on SEL interventions implemented in Tier II. Additionally, SEL interventions have received criticism for not being culturally relevant for minoritized populations, especially Black students. This study aims to seeks to extend the current literature on making cultural adaptations of an SEL intervention, specifically for Black elementary students using the Ecological Validity Model (EVM). …

Development Of A Gis-Based Research Data Preservation Platform For Historically Significant Wood Preservative Research Field Sites, Lorali Gene Pace

Theses and Dissertations

Wood protection research plots have played a critical role in the development and evaluation of preservative treatments used throughout North America, including decades of research associated with Mississippi State University’s Department of Sustainable Bioproducts. However, without spatial documentation, much of this research history and institutional knowledge is at risk of being lost. This study develops a GIS-based research preservation platform to document, organize, and preserve historic wood protection testing data. Using ArcGIS Pro, field-collected spatial data, historical records, aerial imagery, and ArcGIS Online technologies, a digital geodatabase and interactive web application were created to organize research locations and connect them …

An Evaluation Of Three Remote-Sensing Technologies Applied To French Colonial Fort St. Pierre, Mariah Gonzales

Theses and Dissertations

This research is focused on the eighteenth century French Colonial Fort St. Pierre located in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Fort St. Pierre stood from 1719 to 1729 before being destroyed as a result of the Natchez revolt. With such a short existence, this fort has not been the subject of much research. With no archaeological features on the surface, the site was chosen to employ three remote-sensing methods to build the first digital rendering of the site and to measure the efficacy of each method in archaeological investigations. This study used LiDAR, Ground Penetrating Radar, and Magnetic Gradiometry to identify …

A Comparative Study Of Synthetic Aperture Radar Focus Algorithms For Maritime Surveillance Applications, Madison M. Forrest

Theses and Dissertations

Maritime Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery is frequently degraded by vessel motion and ocean-induced dynamics that violate the stationary scene assumptions of conventional SAR image formation, resulting in azimuth defocus and reduced image interpretability. Autofocus techniques are commonly employed to mitigate these effects; however, their relative performance in maritime environments and the tradeoffs between image quality and computational complexity remain areas of ongoing investigation. This work presents a comparative evaluation of three established SAR autofocus algorithms—Phase Gradient Autofocus (PGA), Minimum Entropy (ME), and the Doppler Parameter Estimation Algorithm (DPEA)—applied to real-world maritime SAR imagery. The study utilizes X-band SAR data …

Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Use Of Representations To Compare Fractions In Area, Length, And Set Contexts, Sarah Salisbury

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics teachers’ knowledge of rational numbers is very important due to the prominence of fraction concepts across the K-12 curriculum. Preservice teachers (PSTs) typically only have a procedural understanding of fractions and lack conceptual understanding (Newton, 2008). PSTs struggle to construct pedagogical representations that correctly show the size of parts and wholes (Lee & Lee, 2019). The purpose of this study was to investigate PSTs’ ability to compare fractions by examining their selection and creation of appropriate and accurate fraction representations in context, including the use of area, length, and set representations. The purpose was also to determine the extent …

Development And Comparison Of Retained Ownership Decision Methodologies For Feeder Cattle Owners, William John Simmons

Theses and Dissertations

Cattle producers retain ownership through the feeding phase in the hopes of increasing profits. Because not all cattle generate positive profits, retention decisions on an individual basis substantially affect overall profitability. This study develops, simulates, and evaluates among others a new prediction methodology intended to help improve profitability. The method is an integrated framework combining a novel multilevel (hierarchical) growth model, futures basis-adjusted price forecasting, and production cost estimation to predict which animals are expected to be profitable. Individual performance data were collected for 12,066 in-sample (2003 to 2011) to predict growth and profits for 12,496 out-of-sample cattle (2011 to …