Digital Commons Network^™

Remote Vascular Interventional Surgery Robotics: A Literature Review, Yang Zhao, Ziyang Mei, Xiaoxiao Luo, Jingsong Mao, Qingliang Zhao, Gang Liu, Dezhi Wu

Publications

Vascular interventional doctors are exposed to radiation hazards during surgery and endure high work intensity. Remote vascular interventional surgery robotics is a hot research field, in which researchers aim to not only protect the health of interventional doctors, but to also improve surgical accuracy and efficiency. However, the current vascular interventional robots have numerous shortcomings, such as poor haptic feedback, few compatible surgeries and instruments, and cumbersome maintenance and operational procedures. Nevertheless, vascular interventional surgery combined with robotics provides more cutting-edge directions, such as Internet remote surgery combined with 5G network technology and the application of artificial intelligence in surgical …

Sex (Work) And The City: Sex Work In Columbia, South Carolina, 1860-1880, Presley Mckalyn Ramey

Theses and Dissertations

Nineteenth-century sex work in the American south has long been neglected in sex work historiography. Formerly Confederate states have red-light districts rich in history, and stories of the South waiting to be told. The city of Columbia has great significance as the capital of the first southern state to secede from the Union, and this thesis acts as a local history of the city’s red-light district. Utilizing city ordinances, court cases, census records, city directories, probate records, and wills, the lives of Columbia’s sex workers and how they interacted with the growing city around them are brought to the forefront. …

Defining Molecular And Morphological Phenotypes In Ash1l-Deficient Human Neurons, Foster D. Ritchie

Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social and verbal impairments as well as repetitive behaviors. Large human genetic studies showed that genes encoding chromatin and transcriptional regulatory proteins are among the most commonly mutated genes in ASD. Absent, Small, or Homeotic 1-like (ASH1L) is a histone methyltransferase that has previously been identified as a major genetic risk factor for ASD. ASH1L di-methylates Histone H3 on Lysine 36 (H3K36me2) and tri-methylates Histone H3 on Lysine 4 (H3K4me3), which mainly coincides with transcriptional activation. ASH1L is a Trithorax protein that is proposed to counteract the activity of …

Cryptic Cryptophytes: The Plasticity In How Cryptophytes Respond To Changes In Resource Availability, Rachel Ann-Marie Schomaker

Theses and Dissertations

Resource variability and availability often drives competition within ecosystems, which can lead to the diversification of organismal niches and physiological capabilities. In aquatic systems, common resources that photosynthetic organisms, such as algae, compete for are light and carbon. Both the spectral characteristics (color) and carbon concentrations of an aquatic system vary with time and space, which means that algae need to be able to respond to changes in resource availability to survive. Using a group of ubiquitous unicellular eukaryotes known as cryptophytes, we investigated both how cryptophytes respond to changes in the available light spectrum at a physiological and genetic …

Three Essays In Behavioral Economics, Foteini Tzachrista

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation includes three essays on behavioral economics with applications in health, strategic thinking, and labor.In the first essay titled ``The Effect of Nudging on the Utilization of Counseling Services and the Implications on College Student Involvement'', I examine the effect of nudging on the utilization of mental health services and the impact on college student involvement. To improve the utilization of mental health services for college students I designed and implemented an intervention promoting a pro-counseling social norm on campus. More specifically I sent campus-wide emails to inform students of the mental health services offered on campus. Randomly selected …

“That Was Denied Thee On Earth”: An Intersectional Bioarchaeology Of Institutionalized Euro-American Women Throughout 19Th And 20Th-Century America, Madeline Maria Atwell

Theses and Dissertations

In the mid 19th-century, American state-supported insane asylums, later renamed state mental hospitals in the 20th-century, were constructed to house and humanely treat individuals perceived to be socially deviant or mentally and physically ill. Women were particularly vulnerable to undue institutionalization because of the prevailing patriarchal gender ideology within medical and colloquial spheres that contributed to the perception that they were biologically pathological. This dissertation interprets the findings of combined archival, historical, and osteological analysis from two U.S. skeletal collections: The Colorado State Insane Asylum (CSIA) Collection and the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection (HT), to examine the embodied, physiological impact …

Discovery And Mechanistic Study Of Novel Pbd-Targeted Inhibitors Of Plk1 For Prostate Cancer Treatment, Danda Pani Chapagai

Theses and Dissertations

Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) is a central player in regulating entry into and progression through mitosis. Inhibition of sub-cellular localization and kinase activity of PLK1 through the Polo-box domain (PBD) is emerging as a viable alternative to ATP binding site directed drugs for which the development of resistant mutants and inhibition of closely related members of the PLK family (tumor suppressor roles) are primary concerns. I describe related novel non-peptidic PBD binding inhibitors, termed abbapolins, identified through successful application of the REPLACE strategy and demonstrate their potent antiproliferative activity in prostate tumors and other cell lines. Furthermore, the abbapolins show …

Mining For Progress: Copper, Conflict, And Corporate Social Responsibility, Fritz Culp

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation examines how transnational mega-mines efface non-Western ways of knowing and being from the Andes. A growing branch of research is questioning the socio-environmental impacts of mining and the influence of regulatory institutions. Despite remarkable scholarship on the ongoing environmentalism of modern-mining, little critical attention has been given to the industry’s pivot to ‘sustainable’ development and its objectives that remain epistemologically centered on the West. My project addresses these gaps by examining Las Bambas—a large-scale copper mine located in South-Central Peru—and its contrasting objectives that emphasize both environmental ‘conservation’ and the ‘modernization’ of non-Western spaces. Building upon the critical …

Economic Development, Political Processes And Climate Change Adaptation In The Solomon Islands, Adam Christopher Ereth

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change exacerbates existing societal inequalities, including those related to uneven adaptation developments. Often, climate change prompts societies in Oceania to implement adaptation strategies to deal directly and indirectly with related issues. The futures of island nation inhabitants have sparked as much curiosity and inquiry as it has fears of diminished futures for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Narratives and discourse on climate change adaptation range from engineered solutions to address sea level rise and storm wave issues, to pessimistic retreat with claims that islands are sinking and little can be done but move elsewhere. These disparate realities call into …

Specific Learning Disability: Rates Across A Southeastern State, Joseph T. Ferraracci

Theses and Dissertations

Reading, writing, and mathematics are crucial academic and life skills. Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in these areas is the most common disability in children and account for almost 40% of all students in special education. Special education law permits for the identification of these students in multiple ways; IQ/Achievement Discrepancy, Response to Intervention, or the use of other, alternative research-based procedures (e.g. Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses Model. There is variability within and across these methods, causing incongruity and inconsistency in rates. Other variables associated with SLD such as socioeconomic status, age, sex, and race also play important roles when …

Social Music Interactions And Vocal Music Improvisations In A Serve And Return Music Community, Kathleen Kaye Arrasmith

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examined how kindergarten students and a music teacher engaged in social music interactions and displayed music characteristics during harmonic improvisation activities. The purpose of this study was (a) to describe social music interactions between kindergarten students and a music teacher and (b) to categorize and to describe kindergarten students’ and a music teacher’s vocal music improvisations during harmonic improvisation activities. The guiding research questions were (a) RQ1: How did kindergarten students and a music teacher engage in social music interactions during harmonic improvisation activities?, (b) RQ2a: What music characteristics did kindergarten students and a music teacher …

The Effect Of Explicit Vocabulary Instruction On Elementary Students’ Vocabulary Knowledge And Reading Comprehension: An Action Research Study, Tonia Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Reading comprehension seems to be a significant challenge for rising fifth graders with limited vocabulary knowledge. A possible solution is to provide them with explicit vocabulary instruction which may positively impact their reading comprehension. This action research aimed to evaluate the effect of implementing explicit vocabulary instruction delivered through Schoology on fifth graders’ vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension at an urban elementary school in the southeastern United States. This study also sought to analyze students’ perceptions of the usefulness of the online vocabulary learning modules. A convergent mixed-method approach was applied to answer the research questions. The quantitative data (e.g., …

Sustainable Polymers: Upcycling Poly(Vinyl Chloride) And Mimicking Low Density Polyethylene, Ian Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, increasing the sustainability of polymers was investigated through two main methods. The upcycling of poly(vinyl chloride) and the creation of polymer mimics to create degradable low-density polyethylene. In the first chapter, an overview of the sustainability issues of polymers is presented and approaches are described on how their sustainability may be increased through the upcycling of polymers or the synthesis of degradable polymers that mimic the properties of petrol-based polymers.

Chapter 2 contains the progress on the upcycling of PVC using high oleic soybean oil. Soybean oil can soften PVC making it less brittle than pure PVC. …

Homestead Vegetable And Poultry Production And Related Practices: An Assessment In Nepal, Shiva Bhandari

Theses and Dissertations

Consumption of nutrients-rich foods like diverse vegetables, eggs, and meat throughout a year remains a challenge in low- and middle-income countries due to poor availability, accessibility, and affordability. One important way to overcome the challenge is to promote households’ own production of these foods and encourage individuals to consume. Improving household production of the foods necessitates understanding whether active participation and performance of frontline workers in the communities and performing improved production-related practices can translate into improved production of nutrients-rich foods. This study had two specific aims. The first aim was to examine demographic, socio-economic, and programmatic determinants of active …

Evaluation Of The Perceived Benefit Of A Psychiatric Resource For Parents Of Children With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, Kayla Blankenship

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to assess the perceived utility of an educational resource booklet addressing the psychiatric manifestations and mental health considerations within 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS).

Seventy-three parents of children with 22q11.2DS completed online surveys before and after reading the booklet. The surveys assessed personality factors and feelings of empowerment, worry, self-stigma, and ability to tolerate uncertainty.

Participants reported that the booklet was easy to understand, provided better understanding of 22q11.2DS and mental illness, answered questions about mental illness associated with the condition, improved knowledge of strategies for protecting the mental health of children with the condition, …

The Effects Of The Online Remediation Of Phonological Processing Deficits On Functional Reading Abilities In Students With Dyslexia, Fletcher Bowden

Theses and Dissertations

Dyslexia affects between 5% and 18% of Americans and is caused by difficulty with phonological processing. This study investigates the impact of an online intervention designed to remediate phonological processing deficits on reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. It also investigates changes to student self-concept and parent perceptions of their children’s reading attitudes and abilities as a result of the online intervention.

Ten students participated in the intervention; assessments were administered at the beginning and at the midpoint of the treatment. Scores in Phonological Processing and Alternate Phonological Processing, as measured by the CTOPP-2, demonstrated large to very large effect sizes, …

“Why Do I Have To Learn This Anyway?”: A Qualitative Investigative Action Research Study Into The Tension Between The Rural, Working-Class Masculine Student And The Formal Educative Structure, Joshua Matthew Bowers

Theses and Dissertations

The specific problem of practice on which this study was focused is the tension experienced between the rural (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016), workingclass (Draut, 2018) masculine (Connell, 1995) student and the formal educative structure. The purpose of this investigative action research study was to identify and clarify in my context the unique tension experienced between the rural, working-class masculine student and the formal educative structure. This tension I refer to as tention, as tention is a variant of tension (Oxford English Dictionary, 1994, p. 789), and the rural, workingclass masculine student is, at his unique nexus of intersectionality, …

Poetic Self-Representation Among Russian And British Female Poets In The Late 18Th And Early 19Th Centuries, Ulyana Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the development of self-representation by Russian women poets of the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century through comparison with the women poets in England of the same period. The comparative analysis of the works composed by Ekaterina Urusova, Aleksandra Murzina, Anna Bunina, Mary Julia Young, Mary Scott, Janet Little, and others provides insight into women poets’ practices of exceeding the boundaries of gender-defined art to inhabit literary discourse traditionally occupied by male poets and expose the artificiality of gender and literary genre relations and engage with a variety of political, …

Influencing The School Leadership Pipeline: The Attributes And Readiness Of Principals To Mentor Their Assistant Principals, Megan C. Carrero

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the complexities and challenges faced by principals on a daily basis, the literature posits that mentoring can be impactful to the individual mentee, as well as the potential benefits to the system in which they serve (Gross, 2009). While the benefits of mentoring are reviewed from the perspective of psychosocial development (Mertz, 2004), professional development (Gray et al., 2007), career development (Williams et al., 2009), the topic of readiness for principal mentoring is lacking in the literature. This study is a qualitative interview study conducted with five middle school principals and five middle school assistant principals in South Carolina. …

The Effect Of Emotional Intensity, Arousal, And Valence On Online Video Ad Sharing, Chang Won Choi

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effect of emotional factors, such as pleasure, arousal, and intensity, on online video ad sharing. Previous studies found that the emotions evoked by online video ads could influence consumers’ ad sharing intentions. However, it remains uncertain which emotional factors trigger ad sharing behavior. Some researchers argue that positive or high-arousal emotions (e.g., excitement) exert greater influence on ad sharing than negative or low-arousal emotions (e.g., sadness). However, these studies do not explain why video ads that evoke low-arousal or unpleasant emotions are also widely shared on social media. Based on the theory of social sharing of …

Race, Racial Matching, And Cultural Understanding As Predictors Of Treatment Engagement In Youth Mental Health Services, Wendy Chu

Theses and Dissertations

Racially marginalized youth experience barriers that impact their ability to maximally benefit from mental health services; thus, efforts to identify strategies that support youth treatment engagement may address mental health and treatment disparities. This study examined the role of youth race, youth-therapist racial matching, and youthreported therapist cultural understanding on youth’s early treatment engagement in mental health services. The youth sample (n = 1159; M_age = 13.8 years, SD = 2.9; 52.1% female) comprised of 778 (67.1%) Latinx, 221 (19.1%) African American, 139 (12.0%) White, and 21 (1.8%) Asian American clients. The therapist sample (n = 126; Mage …

An Evaluation Of The Impact Of Academic Policies And Athletic Procedures For Student Athletes, Seanta Cleveland

Theses and Dissertations

The current study is an evaluation of the ways academic policies and athletic procedures can impact learning for student athletes as inconsistent practices regarding athletic travel and make-up work can have negative effects on learning for student athletes. A total of 11 participants (i.e., 8 student athletes, 3 faculty members) participated in this qualitative phenomenological study. Chickering’s student development theory and Kolb’s learning theory framed the current inquiry into (1) the needs of student athletes and the ways they process important information (e.g., policies and procedures) and (2) related faculty guidance, student affairs, and the governing body for athletics, practices, …

Before The Storm: Youth Hockey In North Carolina Ahead Of The Nhl’S Arrival, Sarai Sharei Dai

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at the development of youth hockey in North Carolina before the coming of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. Although the American South with its warm weather and lack of snow or ice seemed inhospitable to such a wintry sport, ice hockey found a niche in Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad, and the Research Triangle in the mid- to late- 20^th century through a combination of minor professional teams, local boosters, and northern transplants who all worked together to organize youth and amateur hockey associations as well as advocate for accessible ice rink facilities in …

African Seminole Settlement Ecologies Of Early Nineteenth Century Florida, Jordan E. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

For over three centuries prior to the outbreak of the Second Seminole War [1835-1842], peoples of African and Native American descent independently and collectively formed multiple communities throughout what is now Florida. During the early 1990s, several ancestral African Seminole (otherwise known as “Black Seminole”) settlements were identified across Central Peninsular Florida, many of which were founded by self-emancipated Africans commonly referred to as maroons. Previous archaeological research at the African Seminole settlement of Pilaklikaha, or Abraham’s Old Town, has greatly stimulated both scholarly and public interest in tracing the historical trajectories of individual African-Native American communities while remaining attentive …

Synthesis, Characterization And Evaluation Of Dilute Limit Alloy Bimetallic Catalysts For Bio-Oil Upgrading, Leandro Tagum De Castro

Theses and Dissertations

Well-defined single-atom catalytic sites with unique geometric and electronic properties are at the forefront of catalyst research. One type of SAC is a so-called dilute limit alloy (DLA), where single metal atom sites are supported on (or in) the surface of a second metal. This category of well-dispersed atoms alloyed on a metal surface has shown to be effective in reactions like selective hydrogenation of alkynes and dienes to alkenes, ethanol dehydrogenation, and the Ullmann reaction of aryl chlorides. In biomass conversion, this type of catalyst may find its way to address and improve conversion and yield that are crucial …

Exploring Genetic Counselors’ Experiences, Language, And Discussion Of Consanguinity In Clinical Practice: A Multinational Perspective, Romy Isabel Fawaz

Theses and Dissertations

Consanguinity, defined as the degree of relationship between closely related individuals, is a widespread historical practice that is not specific to any one religion, population, or region of the world. Genetic counselors regularly ask whether a reproductive couple is consanguineous as part of the review of family history and risk assessment. Couples who are in consanguineous relationship may be subject to negative attitudes and stigma, potentially due to cultural differences and norms at a population level and these attitudes may interplay with questions, answers, and discussions around consanguinity. We hypothesized that genetic counselors may experience some level of discomfort discussing …

Racism-Related State Policies And The Psychological And Physiological Wellbeing Of Black And White Adults, Calley Elizabeth Fisk

Theses and Dissertations

Recent research on how state-policy affects population health outcomes suggests that state contexts are important sites for producing health disparities. In the United States different domains of state policy are historically linked to the livelihood of Black Americans and enacted within a racist system designed to maintain white supremacy. Despite this history and evidence of racial inequities in health outcomes linked to institutional discrimination for Black and white adults, scholars have yet to examine whether racism-related state policies affect the wellbeing of Black and white Americans. Combining a dataset of racism-related state policies with a nationally representative data of older …

The Pursuit Of Good Food: The Alimentary Chronotope In Madame Bovary, Lauren Flinner

Theses and Dissertations

The imagery in Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is crucial to the structure of the novel due to Flaubert’s insistence on observations of le quotidien or daily life. Daily activities, mundane tasks, and precise descriptions take as much precedence within the chapters as the actions of Emma herself, putting focus on the importance of these activities as readers try to discern meaning from their inclusion. One such daily activity that features in many scenes and varies widely is the presence of food within the novel. As Lilian Furst, Jean-Pierre Richard, and Victor Brombert observed in their analyses of Madame Bovary, …

Mechanistic Multiphysics Modeling Of Cladding Rupture In Nuclear Fuel Rods During Loss-Of-Coolant Accident Conditions, Kyle Allan Lawrence Gamble

Theses and Dissertations

The Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) is a design basis accident that is included as part of the safety analysis of nuclear power plants. As the nuclear industry desires to increase the cycle length and discharge burnup of existing nuclear power plants they must demonstrate safe operation during a LOCA on high burnup fuel. During a LOCA transient on high burnup fuel rods, the rods may undergo a process known as fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal (FFRD). To permit dispersal, the cladding encapsulating the fuel must rupture with an opening size large enough to allow the fragmented fuel particles to …

Facilitating Role Understanding And Collaboration Between Aspiring School Counselors And Principals: A Pilot Convergent Mixed Methods Design, Shelby Kaitlin Gonzales

Theses and Dissertations

Using a piloted convergent mixed-methods design, I investigated role understanding and collaboration between school counselors and principals. Specifically, this intervention situated aspiring school counselors and principals in a curriculum implementation on the role of their counterpart and then brought the two professions together in a collaborative powerful learning experience (PLE). Neither the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP), American School Counseling Association (ASCA) or National Policy Board for Education Administration (NPBEA) currently require graduate students to learn about the role of their opposite counterpart or collaboration between the two professions before they graduate from their respective …