Digital Commons Network^™

For Their Own Good: Girls, Sexuality, And State Violence In The Name Of Safety, Madalyn K. Wasilczuk

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Hybrid Experimental-Computational Study: Prediction Of Flow Fields And Full-Field Pressure Distributions On Three-Tab Asphalt Roofing Shingles Subjected To Hurricane Velocity Winds, Troy A. Myers

Theses and Dissertations

A novel hybrid experimental-computational study is performed to predict the flow fields and pressure distributions on the measured shapes of flexible, three-tab asphalt roofing shingles undergoing increasing uplift when exposed to hurricane velocity winds. StereoDIC analysis is performed to measure the transient full-field deformed shapes of full-size three-tab asphalt shingles when subjected to hurricane velocity winds for two hours. Steady state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the shingled roof facsimile-plenum region representative of the experiments are successfully performed. The simulations are performed to predict wind loading of the uplifted shingle shapes by utilizing the measured full-field three-dimensional uplifted shapes …

Keeping Our Republic, Ashlee A. Paxton-Turner

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Examining The Influence Of Argument Driven Inquiry Instructional Approach On Female Students Of Color In Sixth Grade Science: Its Impact On Classroom Experience, Interest, And Self-Efficacy In Science, Written Argumentation Skills, And Scientific Voice, Paul Duggan

Theses and Dissertations

Four of the eight Engineering Standards in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS, 2013) focus on authentic science communication: “asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering), analyzing and interpreting data, constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating and communicating information” (Sampson et al., 2010, p. 218). Authentic science communication is supported in NGSS through cross-cutting concepts (Driver et al., 2000) that integrate the structure and function of science concepts together with communication strategies that include reading, writing, and peer critique. These cross-cutting concepts include reading strategies that focus on reading informational …

Implementation Of A Bowel Management Care Bundle On The Spinal Cord Injury Patient Population During Acute Recovery, Jessica Rene Baldwin

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Over 17,000 Americans suffer from spinal cord injuries (SCI) annually. Although the loss of motor function is a blatantly obvious sequela, the loss of autonomic nervous system control, and its direct effects on various body systems, is scarcely understood. The most frequently reported impairment associated with SCI-related bowel dysmotility is Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction (NBD), affecting approximately 20-60% of the SCI population. NBD is defined as slow colonic time and is hallmarked by constipation and often impaction, leading to life-threatening complications, such as bowel obstruction, fecal impaction, autonomic dysreflexia, and even death. Identifying dysmotility within the SCI patient population and early …

Integration Of The Respiratory Distress Observation Scale For Patients At The End Of Life, Alexandra Mackenzie Starnes

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Dyspnea is a distressing phenomenon experienced frequently in end-of-life patients. Nurses currently rely on their own experiences and observations of other nurses to guide their assessment and treatment of dyspnea. Lack of a standardized tool may lead to inconsistencies and inadequate care.

Purpose: Determine if the implementation of the RDOS will improve the nurses’ ability and self-reported comfort levels to assess and treat respiratory distress in patients at the end of life adequately and consistently.

Methods: A pre-test and post-test design evaluated nurses’ ability and self-reported comfort levels assessing and treating respiratory distress in end-of-life patients. Nurses rated …

The Impact Of Mindfulness Meditation Exercises On Managing Stress Among New Graduate Nurses, Sharonda Marshay Jamerson

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Studies reveal, approximately 33.5 % of new graduate nurses suffer from stress and burnout, forcing the nurse to leave the workforce within the first two years of transitioning into the role of a professional nurse (Heins, 2019). The Chief Nursing Officer of a large healthcare system in South Carolina confirms new graduate nurses are suffering from stress and burnout while transitioning into the role of the professional nurse (Personal communication, March 5, 2021). Purpose: The purpose of this project is to provide new graduate nurses' mindfulness meditation exercises to help manage stress as mindfulness meditation has been proven …

The Impact Of Mindfulness Meditation On Registered Nurse Burnout, Kelli R. Scheibenhoffer

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Nurse burnout has been reported in hospitals across the nation and is prevalent around the globe. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared nurse burnout a condition calling for recognition and treatment. Nurses working in an inpatient setting may experience higher levels of burnout than in other settings. Hospitals with nurse burnout jeopardize the number of functioning employees, patient safety, and quality of care. Introducing preventative factors such as mindfulness could shield nurses, improve patient care, and cut hospital costs. Purpose: This evidence-based project aimed to determine the effect of using meditation via the Headspace app with …

Evaluating The Use And Effectiveness Of Digital Mental Health Resources For Acute Care Nurses, Ashley M. Turbyfill

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Statement: The burnout phenomenon has been exacerbated over the last almost two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Maunder et al., 2021). Healthcare organizations must respond by implementing evidenced-based mental health initiatives to increase staff coping skills to reduce stress and emotional exhaustion (Galanis et al., 2021). While the project organization can access large-scale aggregate data about resource usage and its overall mental well-being, they cannot assess what percentage of users are nurses and the personal impact on their mental well-being. Due to these limitations, the organization cannot gauge how the nursing staff uses and responds to offered resources. …

Using A Clinical Reminder Tool To Impact Vitamin D Screening, Mercy Roy

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem Statement: Chronic pain patients with widespread musculoskeletal pain are not adequately screened for possible vitamin D deficiency by healthcare providers. Purpose: This quality improvement project (Q.I.) aimed to improve the screening rates for vitamin D among healthcare providers by implementing a clinical reminder tool within the documentation section of the electronic medical records (EMRs) in an outpatient federally funded pain clinic located in the Southeastern region of South Carolina. Methods: A clinical reminder template was embedded within the EMR documentation to increase screening for vitamin D levels for chronic pain patients among healthcare providers. Data were collected six weeks …

Decreasing Pressure Injuries From Respiratory Devices In The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Samantha Nicole Elliott

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Problem: Patients developing pressure injuries while admitted to the hospital has become a nationwide problem. The national annual cost of treating pressure injuries is $11 billion dollars, with up to $70,000 dollars for stage four pressure injuries (Cooper et al., 2020).

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to implement the use of a silicone foam dressing under respiratory devices, monitored using kamishibai cards (k-cards) to decrease pressure injuries. K-cards are a rounding tool that staff can use to identify barriers that prevent the standard of care.

Intervention: A pre-study, three-month period, was compared to the implementation period in the …

Overview Of The Clpsych 2022 Shared Task: Capturing Moments Of Change In Longitudinal User Posts, Adam Tsakalidis, Jenny Chim, Iman Munire Bilal, Ayah Zirikly, Dana Atzil-Slonim, Federico Nanni, Philip Resnik, Manas Gaur, Kaushik Roy, Becky Inkster, Jeff Leintz, Maria Liakata

Publications

We provide an overview of the CLPsych 2022 Shared Task, which focusses on the automatic identification of Moments of Change in longitudinal posts by individuals on social media and its connection with information regarding mental health . This year's task introduced the notion of longitudinal modelling of the text generated by an individual online over time, along with appropriate temporally sensitive evaluation metrics. The Shared Task consisted of two subtasks: (a) the main task of capturing changes in an individual's mood (drastic changes-`Switches'- and gradual changes -`Escalations'- on the basis of textual content shared online; and subsequently (b) the sub-task …

Accounting For R&D: Evidence And Implications*, Thomas G. Canace, Scott Jackson

Faculty Publications

Accounting rules require that certain R&D expenditures be capitalized, but academic research often states that all R&D expenditures must be immediately expensed. An accurate understanding of actual R&D accounting practices is critical because that understanding influences research questions and design choices. To examine the competing R&D accounting perspectives, we survey 184 experienced financial officers. Our survey reveals that R&D capitalization is common and extensive in practice. Over 90% of respondents indicate that their firm capitalizes at least some R&D expenditures, and our evidence shows that about 22% of annual R&D expenditures are capitalized. When facing an earnings shortfall, respondents indicate …

Search For Triple-Proton Decay Using Machine Learning With Cuore, Douglas Adams

Theses and Dissertations

A framework to search for a triple-proton decay of ¹³⁰Te in the CUORE detector against a background of muons is presented. We use machine learning to classify different kinds of energy depositing events. We use the classification information to improve our detection or non-detection limits of a triple-proton decay process. We derive and use a methodology of combining Poisson counting statistics with supervised classification machine learning tools. Additionally, a sensitivity calculation is provided which uses the classification counting likelihood. Using our analysis technique, we achieve an lower 2σ half-life bound of 7.43×10²⁴yrs for triple-proton decay of …

Cutting The Idea's Gordian Knot: Accepting Entanglements Of Disability And Self And Embracing A "Best Interests" Approach To Disciplining Students With Disabilities, Sarah A. Husk

The Journal of Law and Education

No abstract provided.

Nutrition Facts Label Use Among U.S. Adolescents, Jennifer Beth Mandelbaum

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the promise of Nutrition Facts label (NFL) use as a population-level intervention with broad reach, few studies have examined determinants of adolescents’ NFL use, and how this label use may be associated with nutrition behaviors. This study used data from the International Food Policy Study, an online cross-sectional survey of trends in dietary patterns and policy-relevant behaviors in the U.S. and five other countries. First, this study examined 1) whether NFL use was associated with healthy eating efforts and 2) whether there were sociodemographic differences in NFL use among U.S. adolescents. Results demonstrated that NFL use was positively associated …

Recasting The Second Fiddle: The Need For A Clear Line Of Lieutenant Gubernatorial Succession, T. Quinn Yeargain

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Molten Salt Thermal Properties Database – Thermochemical Development And Thermodynamic Assessment Of Various Molten Salt Systems, Johnathon Chandler Ard

Theses and Dissertations

The Molten Salt Thermal Properties Database – Thermochemical (MSTDB-TC) is a validated open-source database for thermochemical modeling of molten salt reactor (MSR) relevant fluoride and chloride salt systems. The database has been created and populated by leveraging available models from literature as well as completing novel system assessments. The development and contents of the MSTDB-TC v1.2 initial release are detailed along with various system assessments performed in the course of the work. The database utilizes a major strength of the CALPHAD thermodynamic modeling method. This is the ability to estimate higher-order system behavior by combining modeled lower-order systems, …

There’S Action In Silence: An Action Research Study On The Impacts Of Diverse Narratives In An Advanced Placement United States Government Class, Ashley Kristen Wright

Theses and Dissertations

In this action research study, I facilitated and evaluated student exposure to politically, socially, and economically diverse source material within my Advanced Placement United States Government classroom, seeking to resolve students’ apparent disconnect from experiences that differ from their own, which had made connections to topics like civil rights challenging to grasp. Because the supplemental material I had chosen for my government classes failed to provide opposing narratives for my students to make these connections, this study arose as a way to research and ultimately correct this problem from within my government classroom.

Over the course of a semester, I …

Digital Twins In Advanced Manufacturing To Enhance Manufacturing Efficiency, Max Kirkpatrick

Theses and Dissertations

Digital Twins of manufacturing systems are an emerging tool for improvement, optimization, and monitoring of physical manufacturing systems. The idea of representing physical systems with digital depictions has been prevalent since the early days of Computer Aided Design (CAD), but recently the concept of a Digital Twin has been expanded to encapsulate more than just a digital model of a design. Instead, the Digital Twin offers a unique, comprehensive, and real-time toolset for analysis and improvement of physical systems. These tools can be used to improve system efficiency, perform “what-if” analyses, virtually commission manufacturing equipment, analyze system performance in real …

Orthographic Knowledge And Phonological Awareness In Children With Speech Sound Disorder, Anna Marie Ehrhorn

Theses and Dissertations

Speech sound disorder (SSD) puts children at risk for word reading difficulties but does not guarantee them. Research on early literacy skills in children with SSD has primarily focused on phonological awareness due to speech sound deficits associated with SSD. Researchers have begun to examine multiple factors beyond phonological awareness that may impact word reading and spelling development. Orthographic knowledge is another essential factor understudied in children with SSD. Previous research has shown that orthographic properties of words influence phonological awareness performance in skilled readers and children with reading difficulties. No known previous studies have examined whether orthography influences phonological …

Uncovering The Diverse Roles Of The Human Cst (Ctc1-Stn1-Ten1) Complex In Resolving Genomic Stress, Percy Logan Schuck

Theses and Dissertations

The CST (CTC1-STN1-TEN1) complex is a heterotrimeric single-stranded DNA binding protein known to stimulate polymerase α-primase (Pol α) and promote telomere length regulation, genome-wide DNA replication and double strand break repair. However, much of its cellular function remains unknown. The focus of my dissertation work was to uncover novel roles of CST in DNA stress response pathways. In particular, my work relates to understanding the function of CST in sister chromatid cohesion (SCC) and base excision repair (BER) as well as characterizing CST protein interactions. SCC is established following DNA replication by loading of the cohesion complex, which encircles replicated …

Changes In The Regulation Of The Unfolded Protein Response During Aging In Peromyscus, Elham Soltanmohammadi

Theses and Dissertations

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress has been linked to various metabolic pathologies, neurodegeneration, and aging. Although various mechanistic aspects of the resulting unfolded protein response (UPR) have been elucidated, its regulation in genetically diverse populations remains elusive. In the present study we evaluated the expression of chaperones BiP/GRP78, GRP94 and calnexin (CANX) in the lungs, liver, and brain of 7 months old and 2–3 years old outbred deer mice P. maniculatus and P. leucopus. Chaperones’ _expression was highly variable between species, tissues and ages suggesting that levels of expression of individual chaperones do not change consistently during aging. Despite this variation, …

Motivation And Interest In Participation In Stem Beyond The Classroom Experiences: Effects Of Blended Learning Systems On High School Students, Michael Owdij

Theses and Dissertations

Beyond the classroom experiences are useful learning endeavors designed to help students connect classroom learning to the real world (Kilgo et al., 2015). The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the effect of a technology-based blended learning system on student motivation and interest in participation in beyond the classroom experiences. The blended learning system was offered to STEM-focused junior and senior students who attended a New Jersey high school. The focus of the study was centered around the following questions: How does interest in participation in beyond the classroom experiences change after STEM-focused high school students participate in …

Connecting Writing To Life: The Effects Of Place-Conscious Education On Writing In A First Grade Classroom, Tara P. Dietrich

Theses and Dissertations

This study describes a problem of practice encountered in a first-grade class in the southeast. Students exhibited negative attitudes during the writing process. Because of this, the quality of their writing suffered. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between attitudes and writing achievement in a first-grade class using place-conscious education. Additionally, this study was also built upon the social constructivism learning theory. To address the problem of practice, the researcher conducted a mixed-methods action research case study to analyze the effects of place-conscious education on students’ attitudes and proficiencies on writing. The study was guided by …

The Effects Of Project-Based Game Development On Student Learning And Attitudes: Action Research In An 8Th Grade Introductory Computer Science Course, Theodore G. Jenks

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to implement a digital game development project and describe its effects on the performance and attitudes of eighth-grade students in a required computer science course at South Carolina School District Alpha. The following research questions were explored: (1) How does the game development project impact participants’ ability to analyze and develop algorithms? (2) What is the effect of the game development project on participants’ attitudes toward computer science? and (3) What is the relationship between participants’ attitudes toward computer science and their performance?

There were 28 participants composed of students in a science, …

Genomic Analysis Workflows To Identify Mutational Signatures And Structural Variations In Ovcar8 Cells And Rad51d-Deficient Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts, Manli Yang

Theses and Dissertations

Specific genomic profiles associated with exposure to DNA damaging agents have been identified in cancer related genes, revealing that mutational patterns can be carcinogen- specific. However, there have been limited efforts to demonstrate similar clear relationships for endogenous mutational processes. One endogenous source of mutations is contamination of the deoxynucleotide pool with damaged bases that, if incorporated into DNA, cause mutations.

The Catalog of Somatic Mutations In Cancer (COSMIC) represents an international effort to characterize mutations in cancer. A mutational signature is the pattern of mutations generated by a mutational process. Each mutational process contains two parts: DNA damage and …

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems For Autonomous Infrastructure Inspection, Michail Kalaitzakis

Theses and Dissertations

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) are becoming increasingly popular for infrastructure inspections since they offer increased safety, decreased costs and consistent results, compared to traditional methods. However, there are still many open challenges before fully autonomous, reliable, and repeatable UAS inspections. While a UAS platform has increased mobility and can easily approach hard to reach areas, it has limited range and payload capacity and is susceptible to environmental disturbances. Therefore, current operations are limited to Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) manual inspections that usually result in just a qualitative (visual) assessment of the structure.

The objective of this work is to …

Monitoring Titanium Dioxide Engineered Particles In Rural And Urban Surface Waters, Md Mahmudun Nabi

Theses and Dissertations

Quantifying and characterizing engineered particles in environmental systems is key for assessing their risk but remains challenging and requires the distinction between natural and engineered particles. The Ph.D. dissertation research described in this thesis contributes to the current attempts to improve environmental nanoparticle analysis and better understand nanoparticle behavior in natural systems, with the focus being on natural streams, and the application of single particle inductively coupled plasma-time of flight-mass spectrometry (SP-ICP-TOF-MS) for distinguishing and tracing the origins of environmental nanoparticles. The objective of this dissertation is to characterize and quantify the concentrations of titanium dioxide engineered particles in urban …

Tropical Cyclone And Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions In The Gulf Of Mexico, Emily Nichole Eley

Theses and Dissertations

The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is historically a favorable region for the formation, maintenance and intensification of tropical cyclones that frequently evolve into powerful hurricanes. These natural disasters threaten the basin’s innate habitat and wildlife diversity, and the expansive coastal economies and communities. The dominant ocean circulation feature in the GoM is the Loop Current System (LCS) which includes the Loop Current (LC) and its associated mesoscale eddy field. The LC originates at the Yucatán Channel, loops anticyclonically into the basin, and ends at the Florida Straits; further it produces both anticyclonic and cyclonic eddies. The existence of the LCS …