Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Stimulus Set Size On Efficiency Of Sight Words Training, Junchen Guo

Theses and Dissertations

Reading skills are widely recognized as fundamental abilities, crucial not only for academic success but also for participation in social activities and navigating interpersonal challenges. In the early formation of reading abilities, mastery of sight words is instrumental in effectively enhancing reading proficiency, particularly for individuals lacking foundational reading skills. In educational practice, flashcard intervention stands as a widely utilized instructional approach. When Kodak et al. (2020) first introduced the concept of stimulus set size and its impact on the efficiency of skill acquisition interventions, they examined differences in training efficiency among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) when exposed …

Mississippi Mud: Race, Agriculture, And Disharmony In The Era Of Civil Rights, Kymara D. Sneed

Theses and Dissertations

Federal interference in the battle for states’ rights in Mississippi during the 1950s and 60s birthed a civil rights movement that made the Department of Agriculture its main opposition. Alongside state-sanctioned organizations like the Citizens’ Council and the Sovereignty Commission, the USDA used their resources to deter civil rights groups, black farmers, and black agents alike from protesting against segregationist policies. Mississippi Mud uses agriculture as a lens to illustrate how the USDA’s refusal to denounce Jim Crow, especially after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, led to black farmers and extension agents pursuing legal action against the …

Chitosan-Based Biomaterials For Treatment Of Acute And Chronic Osteomyelitis, Luke Jackson Tucker

Theses and Dissertations

Osteomyelitis or infection of bone is painful and difficult to treat due to limited tissue penetration by antibiotics. A resulting chronic infection has around a 30% chance of never resolving and resulting in amputation of the limb. The current standard of care for osteomyelitis is debridement and systemic antibiotics for two to six months, which can cause systemic toxicity and increase the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It is therefore necessary to develop a localized biodegradable treatment that can deliver high concentrations of antimicrobials while minimizing the risk of systemic side effects. The overall objective of this work was to develop, …

Application Of Existing Statistical Models To Thermal Inactivation Of Escherichia Coli In A Lab-Based Circulating Water Bath And Investigation Of A Salmonella Challenge Model In A 42-Day Broiler Grow-Out In An Updated Facility, Michael Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

The Food Safety Modernization Act has enforced the importance of research in preventative and control measures for known hazards. Experiment 1 applies existing statistical models, Linear and Weibull, to Escherichia coli thermal inactivation in broiler mash feed in a lab-based circulating water bath to simulate conditioning. Linear and Weibull models were determined to be suitable for modeling the thermal inactivation of E. coli in broiler feed. In Experiment 2, a Salmonella challenge model for broilers raised in floor pens in the updated Animal Biosafety Level-2 facility was evaluated over a 42-day grow-out period. Broiler performance and recovery of Salmonella from …

Here I Am, Like I Am: Disability In Twentieth-Century Southern Literature, Rachel M. Bell

Theses and Dissertations

The depiction of people with disabilities in American literature has varied considerably throughout the twentieth century. In the south in particular, disabled individuals have been portrayed as violent, licentious, and deceitful. This thesis examines three hallmarks of American southern literature—Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, William Faulkner’s Sanctuary, and the short stories of Flannery O’Connor—to demonstrate the anxiety of that era surrounding disability, as well as how disability works in tandem with race and class. The fixation of these works on the sexual immorality of disabled men reflects the fascination with eugenics in the mid-twentieth century, as do their animalistic …

Living With Mamaw And Pawpaw: Examining The Impact Of Context When Raising One’S Grandchildren, Rachel K. Scott

Theses and Dissertations

The parenting literature has long explored the influence that socioeconomic status has on parenting practices, but more recent theorists have suggested that contextual factors may influence or explain this relation in some capacity. The current study sought to explore the influence of these contextual factors within a nationwide sample of caregiving grandparents. The results indicate that grandparental financial well-being, depressive symptoms, scarcity of resources, and grandparenting practices share significant associations. Further, contextual factors (i.e., grandparental depressive symptoms and access to resources) mediate the relation between financial well-being and both the positive and negative grandparenting practices that are employed. These findings …

Longitudinal Influences Of Parental Relationships On Positive Adolescent Functioning, Rebekah Buckley Sparks

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the longitudinal influences of parental relationships – romantic, co-parenting, and parent-child – on positive adolescent functioning. Utilizing data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study investigates how various dimensions of parental relationships impact adolescent well-being at age 15, as measured by the EPOCH scale. Grounded in Attachment Theory and the Life Course Perspective, this research highlights the interconnectedness of early parental interactions and their long-term effects on adolescents’ emotional and social development. Key findings indicate that supportive and stable parental relationships significantly enhance adolescents’ engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness. The study emphasizes …

Foodways And Socioeconomic Complexities In Early Iron Age Of Bara, Old Oyo, Nigeria (Ca. 490 B.C. To A.D. 40), Racheal Bolakale Oyundoyin

Theses and Dissertations

The Early Iron Age period has been underexplored in the archaeology of West Africa, particularly Nigeria. Also, there is a lack of research and knowledge on organic residue analysis in Nigeria, particularly in the southwestern region of the country, despite the fact that other studies on archaeobotany and paleoenvironmental studies are well established. To address this gap, lipid analysis was conducted on 10 vessels from the Early Iron Age (490 B.C. to A.D. 40) site BSM6 in Bara, Old Oyo, Nigeria. The analysis revealed the plant and animal materials consumed by the Early Iron Age community. These findings provide vital …

A Geant4 Based Simulation Toolkit For Detector Response Evaluations In Operational Health Physics And Nuclear Safety Applications, Ronald James Unz

Theses and Dissertations

This work describes the development of a Monte Carlo simulation toolkit built on the Geant4 framework for applied health physics applications. The toolkit is designed to construct complex radiation fields and measure how radiation detectors respond to those fields, specifically radiation fields expected to be encountered in environmental and safety applications. The toolkit, along with its development and validation, is described. The use of the toolkit for performing minimum detectable concentration evaluations is outlined, following methods described in the Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual (MARSSIM) and Nuclear Regulatory Guidance Manual 1507, which detail Minimum Detectable Concentrations for Typical …

Growth Kinetics & Optical Properties Of Blue-Emitting Cspbbr3 Perovskites, Rongjing Yan

Theses and Dissertations

Perovskites have raised interest due to their unique physical and optical properties in many fields. Adjustable bandgap, high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), and a wide range of emitting colors make perovskite promising for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) devices. Up to now, too little attention has been given to understanding the growth mechanism of perovskite. Hence, establishing the growth kinetic model is a priority research focus. We explore that low temperatures could slow down the reaction rate of forming perovskite, which provides a chance for monitoring the growth kinetic of perovskite. Additionally, the low external quantum efficiency (EQE) of blue-emitting perovskites hinders …

Effects Of An Auditory Versus Visual Stimulus On Reaction And Response Time During Countermovement And Squat Jumps, Russell K. Lowell

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation examined the differences in REACT, RT, and jumping performance for the countermovement jump (CMJ) versus squat jump (SJ) when beginning the movement by responding to auditory (AUD) versus visual (VIS) stimuli. The secondary purposes of this investigation are to examine gender and physical activity level differences of the aforementioned metrics and the relationship between maximal strength, REACT, and RT. Twenty-eight participants (females = 16 and males = 12) were split into three groups (low = 6, moderate = 10, and high = 12) based on their perceived physical activity levels in accordance with ACSM physical activity requirements. Over …

The Impact Of Sexual Violence, Social Reactions To Disclosure, Coping, And Intersecting Identities On Ptsd Risk, Sabrina Dicarlo

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual violence (SV) affects millions of people, with an estimated 24.8 – 43.6% of people in the United States reporting at least one form of SV in their lifetime. SV has been associated with the development of negative outcomes such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). There is a robust body of evidence which demonstrates the impact that social reactions to SV and coping can have on higher post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Furthermore, studies have shown that individuals from marginalized communities (e.g., racial/ethnic, gender, sexual orientation) may be disproportionately impacted, with greater exposure to SV, negative social reactions, and PTS. Studies …

Aging Redefined: Moving Past The Deficit Model, Aaron Guest

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

The remarkable increase in longevity is the pivotal triumph of public health over the last two centuries. Yet, even as we experience the benefits of increased longevity, we continue to face rampant ageism – or the prejudice and discrimination directed at individuals perceived as 'old.' Worst of all, we know that ageism is associated with increased medical costs, poorer health outcomes, and increased mortality. Efforts to combat ageism have been insufficient. The triumvirate of ageism, gerontological illiteracy, and gerontophobia have resulted in a deficit model of aging. Far from being a liability, the rapid increase in the aging population presents …

Caregiver To Caregiver: An Exploratory Case Study In Adult Family Caregiving Experiences, Tamara Brocks, Kaye Bender

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Adult family caregiving is a national public health issue which is more prominently recognized since the COVID pandemic. The National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers (2022) highlights more than three hundred federal government actions in support of family caregivers and more than 150 actions that can be addressed at other levels of government with their partnerships to build a caregiver support system. A partnership between the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH), the Mississippi Public Health Association (MPHA) and AARP MS is working to address many of the issues related to the heathy aging ecosystem in Mississippi. This case study …

Implementing Policy To Increase Health Literacy In Falls Prevention: A Teach-Back And Show-Back Intervention, Yalanda M. Barner, Lollie Vaughan-Robinson, Jazmin Adjei

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: Although falls are preventable, falls among older adults remain a public health concern. Research indicates that over one-third of persons over 65 fall. Approximately 3 million report to emergency rooms due to falls annually. Falls are attributed to health conditions such as cognitive impairment, poor eyesight, arthritis, and polypharmacy.

Purpose: This study adapted the Teach-Back/Show-Back method for older persons in adult daycare and faith-based settings to assess their understanding of falls prevention techniques. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the risk factors, prevention strategies, and policy recommendations of falls prevention among older adults.

Methods: A survey …

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Hot Spots In Mississippi, Taylor Jansen, Elizabeth Dugan

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Abstract

Introduction. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the US and approximately 10% of people 65 years and older have COPD. This study examines the association of geographic-level risk factors with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence using spatial-based analyses with the goal of identifying risk factors associated with county-level COPD and to identify communities at risk.

Methods. The study sample consisted of all N=82 counties in Mississippi and all data is reported at the county level. All measures were drawn from the 2023 Mississippi Healthy Aging Data Report. A hot spot …

The Mississippi Healthy Aging Data Report: Tools To Advance Health Equity, Elizabeth Dugan, Taylor Jansen, Chae Man Lee, Nina M. Silverstein, Yan-Jhu Su

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Introduction. This article describes the Mississippi Healthy Aging Data Report, which includes 125 indicators reported at the county and state level.

Methods. Data sources include the American Community Survey from the U.S. Census, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, and other sources. Small-area estimation techniques are used to calculate age- and gender-adjusted county rates. Data visualizations illustrate health disparities.

Results. Mississippi is home to 663,581 people age 60 or older – 22% of the state’s total population. Approximately 12.9% of Medicare beneficiaries in Mississippi have Alzheimer’s disease or a related …

Association Of Self-Report Measures With Salivary Biomarkers In Post-Menopausal Women, Laree M. Hiser, Karen Arrant, Jung Hye S. Lee, Lei Zhang

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: Symptoms of menopause include inadequate sleep, depression, and anxiety. Studies of healthy aging frequently use self-report tools that are unverified by objective measures.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between self-report measures of sleep or affect and salivary biomarkers in a small (n=32) sample of post-menopausal women.

Methods: Salivary cortisol and a-amylase were quantified by laboratory tests. Self-report data included hours of sleep and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS^®) tools for sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depression. Correlation analyses were conducted between self-reported measures and biomarker concentrations.

Results: No statistically significant correlations were found between cortisol …

Development Of A Simulation Tool To Study Secondary Electron Emission In Copper Coated With Graphene, George Vassilakopoulos, Eric Collins

Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science

Poster created as part of the Center for Computational Sciences' Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science and presented at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Showcase.

Secondary electron emission (SEE) arises from the interaction of high-energy particles with metallic surface materials. The emission of electrons from copper surfaces can be problematic in a variety of applications, such as particle accelerators or microchips operating in spacecraft. Emitted electrons can build up in accelerator walls, reducing the accuracy of the experiment. SEE in microchips can flip logical bits, create unwanted heat, and reduce the device's lifespan. In …

Validation And Runtime Improvements In Neural Networks For Interatomic Potentials Via Automatic Fingerprint Selection, Spencer Evans-Cole, Kip Barrett, Doyl Dickel

Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science

Poster created as part of the Center for Computational Sciences' Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science and presented at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Showcase.

The development of interatomic potentials via machine learning on first principles results is driven by the need to accurately and quickly analyze atomic environments. When encoding atomic environments for neural networks, a series of different two and three-body functions are used to transcribe the local environments to produce a vector of inputs, making it imperative that the local environments are encoded optimally. Given a set of atomic environments, we …

Developing Machine Learned Interatomic Potentials For Hydrogen Dissociation Over Molybdenum Phosphide, Jeremy Lugo, John Michael Lane, Woodrow N. Wilson, Neeraj Rai

Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science

Poster created as part of the Center for Computational Sciences' Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science and presented at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Showcase.

Molybdenum phosphides are promising catalysts for biomass conversion, particularly in the hydrogenation of organic molecules. Hydrogen dissociation on the surface of such catalysts is a critical step in the process. Traditional computational methods such as density functional theory (DFT) can provide valuable insights into hydrogen-catalyst interactions but are limited by their high computational cost and inefficiency for large systems and long time scales. Machine learning has emerged as a …

Repulsive Coulomb Interactions Enhance Superconductivity Selectively At Density 0.5 Per Site, Jeremy Padvorac, Rudolf Torsten Clay

Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science

Poster created as part of the Center for Computational Sciences' Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Computational Methods with Applications in Materials Science and presented at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Showcase.

The globally accepted Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory explains the pairing mechanism in low-temperature elemental superconductors but fails to explain pairing in high critical temperature superconductors. Unconventional superconductors with higher critical temperatures require moreexotic pairing mechanisms considering electron-electron interactions, such as spin-fluctuated-mediated pairing. Many-body calculations within the Hubbard model, which includes short-range electron-electron repulsion, have shown that superconducting pair correlations are enhanced when the density of carriers is close to one-half …

Embodied Explorations Of Slope, Rebecca Hudson, Payeton Stevens-Balducci, Liza Bondurant, Lee Dean, Catherine Putnam

CoE Publications

Promote student engagement and deep thinking about the meaning of slope.

How Poverty Measures Account For Differences Between “In-Town” And “Out-Of-Town” Students, Robin Clausen

The Rural Educator

Rurality in education research is a function of the size of the school, the distance of a school in relation to urban areas, and factors within each school that may differentiate the school community based on geography. Distance matters. This study finds variation between rural communities at different distances from an urban center and differences based on analysis of student groups and student outcomes within a locale. By taking a granulated geographic approach to rurality we can better compare differences within locales. This analysis of the distance a student lives from school highlights socioeconomic differences between student groups. One related …

Exploring How Rural Schools And Communities Influence The Academic Journeys Of College Students In Stem Majors, Elise J. Cain, Anne Valauri, Jennifer R. Perry, Aliyah Deloach

The Rural Educator

An incongruence exists between the growing job opportunities in rural areas and the educational opportunities provided to rural students, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Positive change is possible, however. As one means to tackle this complex issue, this study sought to understand the perceptions and experiences of students who graduated from rural high schools and pursued STEM majors in college as exemplars of rural students who pursued postsecondary education in STEM disciplines. This phenomenological study explored how college students in STEM majors perceived their rural schools and communities as influencing their academic journeys. Rather than focusing …

Rural Teacher Preparation In The State Of Alabama, Avington Medeiros, Eva Kane

The Rural Educator

Rural teacher recruitment and retention is a matter of interest for the state of Alabama as policymakers look to understand teacher shortages in rural schools across the state. How teachers are prepared to teach in rural schools is an essential part of rural teacher recruitment and retention. Preservice teachers need exposure to rural contexts as a part of their teacher preparation programs. This study examined how teacher preparation programs in Alabama are integrating rural-specific components. Among the 25 teacher preparation programs in Alabama, nearly 25% reported integrating three or more rural-specific components into their teacher preparation programs. Some teacher preparation …

Quality And Quantity Of Physical Activity Resources In The Mississippi Delta Data Set, Megan E. Holmes

CoE Publications

Physical Activity Resource Assessment Data for paper titled, "Quality and Quantity of Physical Activity Resources in the Mississippi Delta"

Deep Reinforcement Learning For Advanced Wireless Networks Enabling Service And Spectrum Coexistence, Walaa Alqwider

Theses and Dissertations

The evolution from the fifth generation (5G) networks to 6G promises to revolution- ize connectivity, supporting a vast array of applications from high-definition video streaming and immersive augmented reality experiences to critical machine-type communications. However, this progression brings along the challenge of efficiently managing the limited radio spectrum (RF) resources to accommodate the diverse quality of service (QoS) requirements of a variety of service and user types. Another problem gaining traction with the advances of wireless communications technology is the coexistence between active communication systems and passive RF sensing operating in the same or adjacent bands. Central to addressing these …

Economics And Risk Of Catfish Production Strategies, Morgan Christine Cheatham

Theses and Dissertations

US catfish producers, seeking to reduce production costs, adopted technologies and production systems with the potential to increase the catfish pond productivity. Catfish pond intensification was accompanied by increased operating risk due to increased reliance on operating inputs. Split ponds were one adopted production system. The US catfish industry has adopted four split-pond variants differentiated by water circulation mechanism. Variants include the slow-rotating paddlewheel, the modified paddlewheel aerator, the screw pump, and the axial-flow turbine pump. Initial investment ranged from $54,400/4-ha ponds to $71,150/4-ha pond. Mean annual gross fish yield ranged from 12,876 kg/ha to 16,984 kg/ha. Net returns were …

Common-Mode Emi Characterization And Mitigation In Networked Power Electronics-Enabled Power Systems, Ashik Amin

Theses and Dissertations

Rapidly-increasing medium-voltage power electronics applications in emerging industry systems, including electrical ships, more electric aircraft, and microgrids, have emphasized the critical need for highly energy-efficient, reliable, and fast switching devices. As a result, Wide-Bandgap (WBG) devices have gained considerable interest over conventional silicon-based switches in recent years. For example, emerging WBG devices have unlocked new dimensions for modern motor drive systems with increased efficiency, switching frequency, and superior power density. Commercially-developed WBG devices such as Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) offer promising opportunities to meet those pressing requirements. However, the fast switching operation of WBG devices may cause …