Digital Commons Network^™

The Metaphysics Of Creaturely Love In The Philosophy Of Anne Conway, Jeremiah Joseph Langer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A common belief during the early modern period held that humans bear ethical relations only to creatures with whom we share the right kinds of similarity. A tradition attributed to René Descartes holds speciesist and anthropocentric views according to which nonhuman animals are mere automata who lack rational minds. Even Baruch Spinoza, who was much more radical in his Ethics, suggests creaturely similarity is restricted to beings with rationality. As such, Descartes and Spinoza conclude that lower beings cannot be morally evaluated for their actions and humans cannot be morally evaluated for their treatment of lower creatures. In her sole …

Examining Institutional Effectiveness Planning As A Tool To Advance Student Success Outcomes For Underrepresented Males, Jazmine Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Higher education should operate as a tool by which democratic equality is enhanced for the betterment of society and its occupants; however, there are systemic inequities as it pertains to educational attainment for different groups when considering race, ethnicity, and sex (Anthony et al., 2021a). More often than not, male collegiates that hold racial and ethnic identities outside of the cultural majority have less than satisfactory student success outcomes when compared to their female as well as White counterparts. As scholars have noted, the burden of improvement and advancement of these outcomes should be placed on the institutions rather than …

The Third Ethos: Asexual Potentialities In Transnational Literature Between 1900-1926, Kimberly Allyn Kotel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Third Ethos responds to the call put forth by sexuality studies for more extensive research into asexualities as a burgeoning field of identity and modality. At the same time, it furthers recent literary scholarship that locates the origins of modernism in earlier aesthetic movements such as symbolism, decadence, and aestheticism, underscoring the influence of modernization on artistic output during the fin de siècle while concurrently contributing to the development of Decadent studies. Analyzing Rachilde’s La Jongleuse, Willa Cather’s O Pioneers!, and Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes, I argue that the Western sociocultural understanding of sex that existed in the …

Bigger Than Bees: Victorian England’S Relationship To The Bee – Considering Symbolism And Understanding, Grace Jacqueline Kaim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complex and beautiful relationship the people in Victorian England had to the bee is one that goes beyond ideas of politics and religion. This thesis will explore this relationship by utilizing print, ephemera, jewelry, and household items, to demonstrate how the representation and symbolism of the bee was recognized and cherished by Victorians. While bees did certainly have an intimate relationship to the areas of politics and religion, one that is acknowledged throughout this work, their connection to grander themes of introspection, industrialism, folklore, morality, and status helps us understand the Victorians on a deeper level.

De Novo Design Approaches Toward The Development Of Artificial Cu Proteins (Arcups) For Activation Of Small Molecules With Functional Relevance To Cu Monooxygenases, Divyansh Prakash

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metalloenzymes catalyze various redox reactions in biogeochemical cycles involved in energy conversion. Our research focuses on Cu-based metalloenzymes, which perform diverse functions in nature and play a crucial role in substrate activation, energy conversion such as oxidizing methane to methanol by particulate methane monooxygenases (pMMOs), and biomass degradation by lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), useful in biofuel production. However, much is unknown about how the active site and secondary/tertiary-sphere interactions in these enzymes determine their function. De novo protein design enables the creation of simpler model systems that closely resemble the structure and function of native enzymes. Using de novo protein …

Examining The Impact Of Mississippi's Early Learning Collaboratives In Supporting Children From Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds With Autism, Lisa Suzanne Ryals

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mississippi established the Early Learning Collaborative Act, MS Code § 37-21-51 (2023), in 2013 to expand pre-k opportunities statewide. This study examined the processes within Mississippi’s Early Learning Collaboratives that support school readiness for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds with autism. Improving access, participation, and supports for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds with autism by increasing the components of high-quality inclusive settings allows children to gain the necessary readiness skills for kindergarten. A policy analysis of the Mississippi Early Learning Act (2023) established the first phase of the research, followed by focus groups from the Mississippi Department of Education Office …

A Qualitative Examination Of The Interplay Of Attachment Styles, The Supervisory Relationship & Counseling Self-Efficacy, Kamiron Ball Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological qualitative study explores the intricate dynamics between attachment styles, the supervisory relationship, and counseling self-efficacy among supervisory dyads in counseling. The findings reveal five themes: supervision is relational, supervision is a therapeutic space, security within supervision bolsters self-efficacy, supervision is a mirror for clinical practice, and the nuanced "both/and" nature of attachment and self-efficacy dynamics. This study addresses a gap in the literature by offering qualitative insights into the interplay of attachment styles, supervisory relationship, and counselor self-efficacy, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the complexities within supervisory practices in counseling.

The Microbial Communities Of Freshwater Invertebrates And Their Influence On Biogeochemical Cycling, Stephanie Nicole Vaughn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nutrient cycling in freshwater systems is primarily performed by microorganisms, however the interactions between microorganisms and other aquatic organisms such as macroinvertebrates is poorly understood. Interactions between macroinvertebrates and their associated microbial community, their microbiome, are important to understanding ecosystem functioning and guiding conservation efforts for imperiled macroinvertebrate species. In this study, I characterized the microbiomes of various freshwater macroinvertebrates and investigated the influence of sample storage methods and environmental parameters on these microbial communities. I first evaluated the impact of different sample preservation methods on the gut microbiome of two crayfish species, Procambarus vioscai paynei collected in the field …

The Value Of Empathy For Teachers In Nontraditional Classrooms, Mindy Clair Waldrop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the experience of teachers in nontraditional classrooms, particularly those in Juvenile Detention Centers (JDCs). Using the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology this study interpreted the lived experience of teachers in nontraditional classrooms. Hermeneutic principles involve using texts, including interview transcripts, to develop understanding and interpret meaning. Following interviews with teachers currently practicing in the JDC nontraditional classroom setting, the researcher engaged in the hermeneutic circle of understanding, which requires an ongoing commitment to the attitude of hermeneutic phenomenology and reflection (Alsaigh & Coyne, 2021). Four themes emerged as significant to the experience of teachers and their use …

Topics In Quantitative Symplectic Topology And Rigidity In Circle Dynamics, Joseph Paul Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation has two parts.

Open-Source Frameworks For Groundwater Analytics: Advancing Machine Learning Workflow Development And Deployment, Sarva Pulla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces three innovative tools to advance groundwater analytics: the GRACE Downscaler, Synthetic Timeseries Generator, and a lightweight web-based service for deploying machine learning and physical models. These tools address critical challenges in groundwater management by enhancing the local applicability of GRACE satellite data, overcoming data scarcity through synthetic generation, and simplifying the deployment of complex hydrological models. The GRACE Downscaler provides a reproducible workflow for regional groundwater analysis, while the Synthetic Timeseries Generator creates opportunities for model development in data-poor regions. The web-based service demonstrates how advanced models like MODFLOW can be made accessible for rapid simulations and …

Breaking Barriers: Ben Williams Integrates Ole Miss Football, Fredderick Nettles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Breaking Barriers: Ben Williams Integrates Ole Miss Football is a written and visual thesis that explores the life and cultural legacy of Robert Jerry “Ben” Williams — the first Black football player at the University of Mississippi — while tracing a broader lineage of Black pioneers in American football. Structured through a multi-chapter analysis, this work examines the significance of Williams’s quiet leadership during a time of racial unrest in Mississippi, alongside historical figures like Fritz Pollard and Woody Strode, who first paved the way for racial integration in football.

Through archival research, interviews, and narrative storytelling, the thesis also …

Demarginalizing Bede's Margins: A Digital Codicological Reassessment Of The Relationship Between Marginalia And Body Matter In Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Ms 41, James Nicholas Sumrall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The scribal activity in the margins of the eleventh-century Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 41 has long been acknowledged and studied, but rarely have scholars examined the relationship between the manuscript’s marginalia and its body text, an Old English translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica. As such, this thesis attempts to address this critical scholarly gap by evaluating key marginal texts of MS 41 in their original physical contexts. In the introduction and first chapter, a brief overview of the manuscript history of MS 41 and its five extant analogues is given. The second chapter focuses on the textual transmission, content, …

Student Informed Instruction: Vertical Non Permanent Surfaces, Cononiah L. Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I, an 8th grade mathematics teacher, have used vertical dry erase boards in my classroom for years to promote student engagement and perseverance after participating in a book study on Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl. Year after year, the implementation of this strategy was constantly refined based on research, other teachers’ experiences, and my perceived notions of students’ experiences while at the dry erase boards. I never, however, asked students to thoughtfully share their experiences. In this study, I introduce the method of student informed instruction to refine how I use vertical dry erase boards in my classroom. After …

Substance Use Amongst Veterans Following Post-Deployment Reintegration: An Examination Through The Lens Of Acculturation, Brittany Hampton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Each year, approximately 46.3 million Americans are diagnosed with substance use disorder (SUD), which costs the United States healthcare system approximately $13 billion in annual costs. One group particularly at risk for SUD is veterans due to the unique stressors that veterans face (e.g., being apart from loved ones, exposure to life threatening events, transitioning between military and civilian life) and a military culture that often reinforces maladaptive patterns of substance use. Little research has been done to examine substance use as a negative outcome associated with the acculturative experience veterans face when transitioning from military life back to civilian …

The Impact Of A First-Year Experience Course On The Persistence And Retention Of Community College Students, Edward Campbell Mclaughlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to explore the connections between student persistence and retention and students who participated in a First Year Seminar (FYS) called the First-Year Experience Course at a Mississippi community college during the 2022 fall semester and students who were enrolled at the college in the fall of 2018 and took the traditional orientation course. By gathering and utilizing archival data from the community college student database, this study sought to determine if taking the First-Year Experience Course is positively related to students’ persistence into the spring semester of 2023 and their retention into the fall of 2023.

Chi-square …

Make It Funny! Developing A Novel Humor-Based Digital Positive Psychology Intervention To Investigate The Influence Of Duchenne Laughter And Mirth On Psychological Distress In Daily Life, Joshua Semko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the present research was to develop a novel digital humor-based PPI (Make it Funny!) to investigate the influence of Duchenne laughter and mirth on psychological distress in daily life. Participants (N = 159; Agemedian = 39 years; 47.77% biologically female; 68.15% White) were tasked with completing Make it Funny! or a placebo activity every day for 7 days. Duchenne laughter frequency had a small negative cross-sectional moderation effect on the relationship between the occurrence of stressful events and psychological distress (t(79.71) = -2.33, b = -10.89, p = .022). Within participants, Duchenne laughter frequency slightly increased the …

Formulation Development Of Simvastatin Self-Emulsifying Drug Delivery System Using Hot Melt Extrusion, Srikanth Chilamula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Simvastatin, a potent HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, lowers cholesterol levels. It prevents cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes in patients with high cholesterol and heart disease. However, its oral bioavailability is limited due to its poor aqueous solubility The current study aims to enhance the solubility of the poorly water-soluble drug simvastatin through the development of self-emulsifying drug delivery systems (SEDDS). Gelucire® 48/16 (oil), Gelucire 44/14 (surfactant), and Cremophor RH40 (co-surfactant) were assessed as potential excipients for SEDDS formulation. Initial SEDDS (Before adsorption) formulations were created based on the solubility of simvastatin in solid lipid excipients, as determined by a …

Imaginative Play In The Inculcation Of Creativity As An Intellectual Virtue, Annie Elisabet Gustafsson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creativity, defined as the ability to generate original and innovative ideas and products, is widely valued yet not explicitly taught. This largely stems from the understanding that creativity cannot be cultivated through traditional methods like imitation or direct instruction, as such approaches contradict the essence of creativity itself. However, we must not write it off as unteachable. To help us better understand what can be done to teach creativity effectively, we must consider its character.

This paper offers a theory of creativity as an intellectual virtue, drawing on Linda Zagzebki’s components of virtue and aligning creativity with Aristotle’s phronesis and …

Infrasound From Tornadoes: Theory And Experiment, Bin Liang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous field experiments support the claim that a tornado can radiate discernible infrasound between 0.5−10 Hz. The physical mechanisms of tornado sound generation are still not fully understood although several potential mechanisms have been proposed. In this dissertation, a new mechanism based on vortex sound theory is examined analytically and numerically. Basically, rotation of the non-axisymmetric vorticity field in tornadoes can produce dominant low-frequency infrasound less than 2.0 Hz. This finding is based on a detailed analysis of calculating infrasound emitted from two numerical models of tornadoes using large eddy simulation (LES), called the baseline model and the eddy injection …

Particle Image Velocimetry Investigation Of A Novel Structure Within A Turbulent Boundary Layer, Tyler Jesse Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the provided thesis, turbulent statistics over a novel additive surface structure are studied within a fully-developed turbulent channel flow at ReƬ ≈ 380. Experimental data is gathered in a purpose-built 3D-printed wind channel which allows for 2D Particle Image Velocimetry. The Multi Jet Fusion 3D-printed additive structure, consisting of two side walls and a top wall, is analyzed for its flow control capabilities. Potential desirable flow control outputs include localized flow acceleration, deceleration, and vortex generation. The proposed structure is configurable by manipulating the structure’s height and the angle of attack of the side and top walls. Heights of …

Lesbian Ferality: Ecco/Kin Disturbance In Sapphic Modernist Literature, Kara Michelle Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lesbian Ferality: Eco/Kin Disturbance in Sapphic Modernist Literature considers the intersections of lesbian literature, queer modernity, and multispecies ecofeminisms in its discussion of literary kinship and worldmaking practices. Colette’s La Naissance du jour (1928), Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929), Olive Moore’s Spleen (1930), and Djuna Barnes’s Nightwood (1936) are all texts committed to unsettling various binaries through attempts at non-normative kinship. This dissertation examines these attempts and encounters as modes of disturbance for personal and political ends. The limiting dualities of natural/unnatural, political/anti-social, insider/outsider, and domestic/wild are challenged by an attention to and intimacy with nonhuman entities that I term lesbian …

Tennessee's Mississippi: An Audio Documentary, Michelle Bright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tennessee’s Mississippi is a four-episode audio documentary preview of a future podcast in the making. It centers on Tennessee Williams’ Mississippi plays and stories and how they connect to the real cultural history of this state. Williams is known as an international playwright, and while much scholarship has been done on his work, very little has focused on the significance of Mississippi in creating a place identity for his characters for his most successful plays in the first twenty-five years of his career. This place identity is even more apparent when he begins to move away from using Mississippi in …

Exploring The Perspectives Of Black Male Students At An Hbcu In Rural Mississippi And The Role Non-Cognitive Factors Within A First-Year Experience Program Play In Their Continued Enrollment, Billy J. Benson, Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retention and graduation rates are declining nationwide but are exceptionally low for Black men. Extant research substantiates that various influences contribute to a student’s ability to persist to graduation. Apart from the positive impact of HBCUs on educational outcomes for Black students, empirical research highlights that enrollment, campus engagement, retention, success, and graduation are problematic (Palmer et al., 2013). Many factors—academic and non-cognitive—affect a student’s ability to persist to graduation (Bosco, 2021).

This problem of practice (PoP) explores the perspectives of Black male students at an HBCU in rural Mississippi and the role non-cognitive factors within a first-year experience program …

Formulation Design And Development For Extended-Release Drug Delivery System, Sheng Feng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The drug delivery system enables the release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient to achieve a desired therapeutic response. Conventional, non-controlled drug delivery systems are unable to deliver the drug at a sustained rate which leads to poor bioavailability, fluctuations in plasma drug concentration, and potential side effects. The extended drug delivery system enables drug delivery at a sustained or predetermined rate to achieve maximum efficacy and safety. Different routes of drug administration, along with various extended-release dosage forms have been extensively developed such as oral delivery, parenteral delivery, transdermal delivery, ocular delivery, and tumor delivery among others. This dissertation developed …

Campus Recreation Student Employee Professional Development Curriculum: Perceived Student Employee Outcomes, Amanda Alpert Jessee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kuh and colleagues (2008) use the term high-impact practices (HIPs) to describe co-curricular programs that are particularly effective in advancing student learning. The original list of HIPs does not include campus employment, which McClellan et al. (2018) argued should be added. According to the results from the 2019 NASPA survey reported by Burnside et al., recreational services is one of the top three areas in the number of student staff members. These student employees tend to come from a diverse academic background (Kampf & Teske, 2013) and may not be pursuing a future career within the recreation field. Campus recreation …

Listening To Black Holes Ring: High-Precision Ringdown Modelling, Lorena Magaña Zertuche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After decades of promise, gravitational waves from a binary black hole system were detected on September 14, 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Since then, close to 100 new gravitational-wave detections, including those from neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries, have been made jointly by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA (LVK) collaboration. LIGO's fourth observing run (O4) has begun, and signals on the order of one per week are expected. This rate will only increase as third-generation ground-based detectors will be getting hundreds of thousands of gravitational-wave signals when they go online in the next decade. Moreover, …

Efficient Design Of Neural Network Hardware Accelerator For Enhanced Performance In Deep Learning Systems, Tamador Nadem Mohaidat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Artificial intelligence (AI) hardware accelerator is an emerging research for several applications and domains. The hardware accelerator aims to provide high computational speed while retaining low cost and high learning performance. The main challenge is to design complex machine learning models on hardware with high performance. In this thesis, the aim is to develop the hardware implementation of perceptron within a neural network. Innovative hardware-based approaches are explored to optimize perceptron networks, enhancing accuracy, reliability, and fault tolerance while minimizing resource requirements and power consumption.

A thorough investigation into machine learning accelerators and associated challenges was initially conducted. The hardware …

Optimizing The Performance Of Polyimide And Polyetherimide Nanocomposites Against Atomic Oxygen Attack And/Or Hypervelocity Impact, Grace Rushing

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As humanity continues to push the boundaries of exploration beyond Earth, the need to develop materials that can withstand this harsh environment increases. Two types of materials were exposed to the low earth orbit (LEO) space environment on the International Space Station (ISS) for one year: (1) polyimide composites enhanced with polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS) and (2) polyetherimide-graphene nanoplatelet (PEI-GNP) composites. Both exposed and non-exposed samples were characterized and compared, and the mass loss was calculated. The effects of the LEO environment, particularly atomic oxygen (AO), were investigated. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and digital microscopy …

Development Of Quercetin And Moxifloxacin Combination In-Situ Nanoemulgels For Wound Healing., Shravani Padhye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study aimed to develop an in-situ gel that could potentially be sprayed on the skin for faster and enhanced wound healing. Quercetin (QCT) is a bioflavonoid, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties and has shown enhanced wound closure along with good antimicrobial activity, particularly against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) which typically infect a wound. Moxifloxacin Hydrochloride (MOX) is a broad-spectrum antibiotic that has topically shown activity against Methicillin Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and, in combination with Quercetin, could provide better and quicker wound healing as compared to the current treatment available. QCT and MOX nanoemulsions …