Digital Commons Network^™

Performance Of The Wrist-Worn Actigraph Gt3x + In Measuring Physical Activity In Older Women, Michal Talley Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Being able to accurately measure physical activity intensity and energy expenditure is crucial to understanding the role physical activity plays in lowering the risk for disease. This thesis aims to examine the performance of the wrist-worn GT3X+ in measuring PAEE and classifying activity intensity in a healthy non-obese population of older women. Methods: Baseline data collected in the Women’s Energy Expenditure in Walking Programs Study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01722136) were used. PAEE was measured concurrently for 2 weeks using the doubly labeled water method in combination with indirect calorimetry, the GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometer (GT3X+, ActiGraph LLC, Pensacola, FL), and the …

Multiple Processes Predict Motor Learning And Impairments After A Stroke, Christopher Michael Perry

Theses and Dissertations

Acquiring, refining, and adapting motor skills allows for successful interaction with our environment to perform daily activities such as driving, cooking, and self-care. Those with stroke often exhibit a compromised ability to relearn motor skills affected by their stroke resulting in chronic disability. Previous rehabilitation studies suggest that deficits in skilled limb movement primarily contributes to deficits after a stroke. However, studies in motor skill performance suggests that multiple behavioral features including visual search, eye-hand coordination and visuomotor decisions also contribute to improved performance. Currently, it is not known if refinements in multiple behavioral features independently contribute to motor learning, …

Innovation And Extended Producer Responsibility In Supply Chain Management, Yuqi Peng

Theses and Dissertations

Supply chain management is an important field in operations management. In recent decades, innovation and sustainability have drawn increasing attention in supply chain management research, while empirical research is still scarce due to data limitations. In this dissertation, we collect unique data and explore the propagation of innovation and sustainability across the supply chain networks.

In the first part of my dissertation, we study research and development (R&D) productivity transmission across supply chain network. Using a two-sided econometric model, we find that having R&D-productive partners plays a significant role in transforming an agent’s R&D into revenues.

In the second part …

Simulation Of Pituitary Organogenesis In Two Dimensions, Chace E. Covington

Theses and Dissertations

The pituitary gland is a vital part of the endocrine system found in all vertebrates and is responsible for the production of hormones that influence many physiological processes in the organism’s body. Although much has been learned of pituitary organogenesis, studying the dynamics of the cells in the developing pituitary gland is difficult. Pituitary organogenesis has been studied through “snapshots” of a developing pituitary gland by removing and viewing the pituitary glands of different specimens. Thus, how the individual cells in the developing pituitary gland behave and interact with one another is not fully understood. To aid in understanding pituitary …

Taking The Pulse Of Undergraduate Introductory Geographic Information Systems Courses, Christopher Krause

Theses and Dissertations

As colleges and universities expand their geographic information systems (GIS) course offerings, the pedagogies involved in teaching such courses ought to be critically evaluated. Existing research concerning the teaching of geospatial technologies has been characterized as “sparse, inconsistent, and overly anecdotal” (Baker et al., 2015, p. 118). Answering the call for “more systematic and replicable” (p. 118) GIS education research, this study adopted a suite of mixed methods used within other discipline-based education research (DBER) and deployed them in introductory GIS courses. These methods included classroom observation protocols, interview protocols, focus group protocols, and student questionnaires.

This research had three …

The Relationship Of Structured Environments With Children’S Body Composition And Obesogenic Behaviors, Ethan T. Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

Recent nationally representative data show among children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, the prevalence of obesity is 17.0% (95CI= 15.5%-18.6%). Further, rates of obesity are disproportionately high among minoritized youth. The prevalence of children and adolescents with obesity is lower among White children compared to Black children (14.7% vs. 19.5%) or Hispanic children (14.7% vs. 21.9%). Disparities by socioeconomic status exist as well. Prevalence of children with obesity from households with an income that is >350% of the federal poverty threshold (after accounting for household size) is significantly less compared to children from households with an income that …

Predictive Validity Of The Classroom Performance Survey, Asia Simone Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

The current study evaluated the concurrent associations between an adapted version of the Classroom Performance Survey (CPS) and academic and behavioral student outcomes. Participants were one cohort of kindergarten through 5th grade children enrolled in a public elementary school. Preliminary results suggested that the CPS was a significant predictor of academic student outcomes similar to previous research. Hierarchal regression analyses indicated that the Academic and Interpersonal Subdomains improved the prediction on students’ GPA, above and beyond MAP scores alone. Finally, descriptive statistics indicate similar student performance across ‘in person’, ’virtual’, and ‘hybrid’ learning settings. Educators using a Multi-Tiered System of …

Dissolved Nitrogen Cycling In The Eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago From Stable Isotopic Data, Holly Westbrook

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is expected to drastically alter the input of inorganic nitrogen (N) sources in the Eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago (ECAA) with increasing discharge from glacial meltwater and permafrost thawing. Since dissolved inorganic N is generally depleted in surface waters, dissolved organic N (DON) could represent a significant source of nutrients limiting primary production in Arctic ecosystems. Yet, few DON data for this region exist. We analyzed stable isotopes (δ¹⁵N and δ ¹⁸O of DON and NO₃-) to investigate dissolved nitrogen cycling in glacial rivers and marine surface samples collected in the ECAA during summer …

Caribbean Yellowtail Snapper Ocyurus Chrysurus: Filling In Critical Gaps In Research For Life History And Novel Ageing Validation Utilizing Δ14C, Sarah Zajovits

Theses and Dissertations

Yellowtail snapper Ocyurus chrysurus is an important fisheries species in the US Caribbean; in waters of Puerto Rico, it ranks second for reef fishes in terms of annual total commercial landings. However, a paucity of information exists concerning basic life history information for Caribbean yellowtail snapper populations. This study provides the first comprehensive documentation of age, growth, and reproductive biology of yellowtail snapper from the Caribbean and is the first to directly validate age estimation in this species. Sampling of 1731 yellowtail snapper occurred in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands during 2013-2021 from fisheries-dependent and –independent efforts. Fish …

A Contextual Evaluation Of The Fresh Fruit And Vegetable Program In South Carolina And Related Child Health Behaviors, Kathryn Irene Hoy

Theses and Dissertations

Children in vulnerable communities are at increased risk for poor diet.1,2 The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) child nutrition program that increases vulnerable children’s access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables.3,4 FFVP is inherently flexible,5 has few regulations, and helps identify and develop best practices for individual schools to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among low-resource children.6 Flexibility built into the FFVP at the federal level naturally results in a variation of program adoption and implementation at both the state and school-levels.7 These variations affect outcomes in complex health promotion …

Building A New (Deal) Identity The Evolution Of Italian-American Political Culture And Ideology, 1910–1940, Ryan J. Antonucci

Theses and Dissertations

Italian Americans were a key constituency of the white-ethnic voting bloc that formed one of the main pillars of the New Deal coalition. However, few historians have looked at motives for the group’s allegiance beyond economic necessity and machine politics. This approach has falsely colored enthusiasm for the New Deal as a reflexive reaction to the Great Depression. “Building a New (Deal) Identity” argues that Italian Americans living in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, from Pittsburgh through Cleveland, voted heavily for the New Deal during the 1930s because of their unique political reshaping during the preceding two decades. In this …

Large-NC Constraints For One- And Two-Nucleon Currents In Effective Field Theory, Thomas Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

There is a long-standing goal of understanding nuclear physics in terms of quarks and gluons, the constituent particles of nucleons. However, the underlying theory is strongly coupled at the scales relevant for nuclear physics; therefore, this goal can only be achieved through nonperturbative calculations. Additionally, nuclear targets are employed in a variety of experiments ranging from electroweak processes to Beyond the Standard Model physics. Thus, it is important to have a strong theoretical foundation for nuclear physics in the presence of external fields in order to interpret experimental results. Effective field theory (EFT) for nuclear physics constitutes a systematic and …

Heterogeneous Extended Langmuir Model With A Truncated Multi-Normal Energy Distribution For Fitting Unary Data And Predicting Mixed-Gas Adsorption Equilibria, Sofia Tosso

Theses and Dissertations

A heterogeneous extended Langmuir model (HEL) that uses a truncated frequency energy distribution based on a one, two or three normal distributions is presented to predict gas adsorption mixtures of single, binary, and ternary gas experimental data involving CO2, H2S and C3H8 on H-modernite reported in the work of Ritter et al (1986) in terms of both solid phase molar fractions and total loadings. These models were initially fitted against single gas data and then used to predict binary data and to establish the type of perfect correlations, whether positive or negative, exist amongst these three species. The models then …

Market Segmentation And Targeted Messaging To Improve Hpv Vaccine Intentions In The College Aged Population, Ashley Caitlin Godwin

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection that can lead to 6 different types of cancer, including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, penile, anal, and oropharyngeal cancer. Every year in the United States, nearly 35,000 cancer cases are estimated to be caused by HPV infection. While catch-up HPV vaccination is recommended through age 26 for those not previously vaccinated, only 21.5% of adults age 18-26 have completed the recommended number of HPV vaccine doses as of 2018. Many interventions have been tested to increase vaccination rates, and one such intervention, framed messaging, has shown promise in increasing intention to vaccinate. …

The Impacts Of An Online Planning Tool On Online Co-Teaching Practices During A Pandemic, Jeffrey Todd Harrell

Theses and Dissertations

Co-teachers at three Atlanta area schools are not providing the appropriate instruction to students with disabilities in the co-teaching setting due to the lack of collaboration in planning and teaching. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the impact of the use of Microsoft Teams (MS Teams) as an online planning tool on the practices and responsibilities of general and special education co-teachers in the online co-teaching setting along with exploring teachers’ perceptions of the use of this online planning tool during a pandemic at three Atlanta area schools to make recommendations for its future use.

The study …

Solvent Effect Modeling In Heterogenous Catalysis, Mehdi Zare

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the biorefining industry and biofuels have emerged as a major American energy sector. Biofuels are fuels produced from plant and animal material, also referred to as biomass. This includes wood products, manure, and corn, among other materials. Compared to fossil fuels, biofuels are significantly more environmentally friendly and thus pose less of a threat to environmental health. In 2019, the United States consumed around 14.54 billion gallons of ethanol and around 1.81 billion gallons of biodiesel. By 2030, the United States is expected to consume around 95 Mtoe of biofuels. In order to meet current demand and …

Three Studies Investigating Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program-Aligned Opportunities To Enhance Students’ Physical Education Learning, Jongho Moon

Theses and Dissertations

Schools have been identified as key venues that have a positive impact on students’ development through physical activity (PA) and physical education (PE) programming. A comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s [CDC] national framework for school-based PA (CDC, 2019). A CSPAP was conceptualized as a strategic approach to leverage the full range of resources needed to meet two broad goals: (a) provide school-aged youth with the opportunity to meet the nationally recommended 60 minutes of daily PA, and (b) achieve Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) America’s National Standards for K-12 …

Neural Synchrony During Naturalistic Language Perception In Listeners With Aphasia, Lisa Johnson Norris

Theses and Dissertations

Neural synchrony across listeners during language processing has been found to be associated with successful comprehension in neurotypical adults. At initial presentation of auditory-visual stimuli, neural responses appear to oscillate in different rhythms across brain regions. As the stimulus progresses, the time course of neural activity synchronizes across listeners, particularly in primary auditory and visual processing regions. This phenomenon, which we refer to as ‘neural entrainment,’ has been observed in neurotypical individuals attending to the same stimulus. Neural synchrony occurs due to the inherent neural response elicited by a stimulus and has been shown to be consistent across participants in …

Student Perceptions Of Their Engagement With Online Writing As Influenced By Their Teacher’S Presence At A Virtual High School: A Mixed Methods Study, Adrienne Harvie

Theses and Dissertations

This convergent mixed-methods action study explored the virtual high school student perception of how their engagement on writing assignments is affected by the presence of their English teacher in an online class. Research questions specifically focused on how teacher presence in the virtual classroom affects student engagement in online writing assignments. Another question asked how students perceive teacher presence in the virtual classroom and the third question examined how students perceived their engagement in online writing assignments is affected by teacher presence.

In this study two English teachers at a virtual high school were mentored by the researcher to increase …

Using Graphic Organizers And Spreadsheets To Increase Quantitative Literacy Skills In High School History Students, Bruce Alexander Thames

Theses and Dissertations

Students are leaving high school and college with insufficient Quantitative Literacy (QL) skills to fully understand lifelong decisions about citizenship, personal finances, and healthcare. These quantitative skills are not taught consistently across the curriculum, which prevents students from making connections across multiple courses and correctly applying math skills beyond the classroom. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the effectiveness of graphic organizers, spreadsheets, and authentic data on the QL skills of 11th grade students enrolled in an honors level United States History class enrolled at a suburban NJ high school (SHS).

This study focused on two overarching …

Genetic And Epigenetic Regulations Of Eds1-Mediated Plant Immunity And Identification Of Bacterial Type Iii Effectors Targeting De Novo Dna Methyltransferase Drm2 In Arabidopsis, Ming Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

In Arabidopsis thaliana, Enhanced Disease Susceptibility1 (EDS1) acts as an indispensable hub in plant immunity and is mainly responsible for plant basal defense, systemic acquired resistance (SAR), increase of endogenous content of salicylic acid (SA) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Epigenetic regulators play crucial roles in multiple important cellular processes. As one catalytic core of Polycomb Repressive Complex (PRC2), CURLY LEAF (CLF/SDG1) protein promotes H3K27me3 deposition at specific loci for genes repression. In this work, I found that EDS1 interacted with epigenetic regulators SDG1, SDG9, SDG15, SDG22 and SDG35 in yeast two-hybrid assays. The growth of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas …

Evaluation And Implementation Of The C-Pen On The Reading Level, Comprehension, And Oral Reading Fluency Of Third-Grade Students With Learning Disabilities: An Action Research Study, Kawanna Mckenzie

Theses and Dissertations

Third-grade students with learning disabilities struggle to meet reading proficiency levels at both the national and local levels. The appropriate support, services, and instruction of students with learning disabilities can help them achieve reading proficiency. Specific educational laws have been implemented to enable students with learning disabilities to use assistive technologies such as text-to-speech tools to support their reading. The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate the impact of a text-to-speech tool—the C-Pen—on the reading skills of third-grade students with learning disabilities at an elementary/middle school. The focus of this study was on three main research questions …

Two Aspects Of Magnetic Nanoparticle Self-Assembly On Thin-Film Multilayers: Custom Media Properties And Accurate Determination Of Nanoparticle Anisotropy Constant, Sara L. Fitzgerald

Theses and Dissertations

ZFC/FC moment versus temperature measurements are a common technique to determine magnetic properties of nanoparticles. In this work, I varied both applied field strength and nanoparticle concentration to study resulting changes in blocking temperature, T_B, and anisotropy constant, K. T_B and K values were obtained using both existing and new analytic methods. Accurate determination of these parameters helps researchers optimize the use of magnetic nanoparticles for a variety of applications, including magnetic heating, drug delivery, and magnetic field-directed self-assembly. For magnetic self-assembly particularly, not only nanoparticle properties, but also the magnetic properties of the substrate alter …

The Impact Of Reading Intervention Supports On Adolescent Reader Identity, Erin Christine Doty

Theses and Dissertations

This case study research aimed to uncover how adolescent students describe their experiences with reading intervention and what aspects of their school experiences they see as contributing to their reader identity. Previous research done with or about adolescent students in reading intervention programs has demonstrated a need for a deeper understanding of students’ perspectives of reading intervention and its impact on reader identity as well as an understanding of how these interventions position students as learners. Using a case study approach, data was collected with three eighth grade students who have participated in reading intervention programs for more than three …

Models In Scientific Inquiry, Justin Price

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies how models become useful for scientific inquiry. Towards this study, I develop a theory on the cross-discipline transfer of mathematical models. The first part of this theory characterizes the way in which scientists must respond to the constraints in making a transferable model useable in their discipline. I invent the notion of a landing zone to identify the aspects of their domain that scientists prepare for the use of a transferrable model. The second part connects this response-to-constraints to cases of conceptual progress resulting from model transfer in biology and chemistry. The last part of this dissertation …

Optimizing Heat Pipes With Partially-Hybrid Mesh-Groove Wicking Structures And Its Capillary-Flowing Analysis By Simulation, Guanghan Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Heat pipes are known as efficient two-phase heat transfer devices and widely utilized in thermal management of power plants and electronics. The hybrid mesh-groove wick promises to attain a higher thermal performance of the heat pipe by balancing the permeability and capillarity. However, traditional fully hybrid mesh-groove wick presents considerable condensation thermal resistance due to the condensed quiescent working fluid and thick, saturated wick.

In this study, a novel partially hybrid mesh-groove wick has been proposed to enhance the evaporation of L-shaped copper-ethanol heat pipes. L-shaped heat pipe promotes high-efficient draining of condensed liquid by gravity, while traditional straight-shaped heat …

Using Blended Learning And Writing Conferences To Develop High Schoolers’ Writing Skills And Self-Regulated Learning, Ashley Nicole Galloway-Speight

Theses and Dissertations

Strong writing skills are an essential element in all areas of life. Written communication is pervasive in both daily life and the workplace. Yet nationwide studies reveal that many students in America graduate from high school with insufficient writing skills. Studies on writing instruction suggest that a shift to teaching writing as a process rather than a product, presentation of quality individualized, focused feedback, and teaching of metacognitive writing skills can help improve writing skills in high school students. The purpose of this mixed methods action research was to determine how the supplemental use of face-to-face writing conferences combined with …

Factors To Integrate Technology For Student Collaboration In The Elementary School: An Action Research Study, Lisa Roseanne Goldey

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of practice in this research study focused on the inconsistent use of Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals (formerly G Suite for Education) for student collaboration. The purpose of this action research was to investigate how elementary teachers used Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals for student collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal was to make recommendations for technology integration in Grades 3 through 5 in a school in central New Jersey.

The focus of this study was on three overarching research questions: 1. How do elementary teachers at a school in central New Jersey integrate technology using Google …

Animacy And Intransitivity In Sentence Processing, Peter Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

The distinction between animate and inanimate objects is essential to many cognitive tasks. Research has shown distinct patterns of memory, attention, and language response to animate and inanimate objects. This dissertation examines the effects of noun animacy on sentence processing. I report three psycholinguistic experiments on intransitive constructions, testing how animate and inanimate nouns influence expectations for an intransitive clause. Intransitive verbs fall into types based on thematic role. Unergative verbs assign an Agent role. Unaccusative verbs assign a Theme/Patient role, although a subclass of unaccusative verbs can alternate between intransitive constructions with a Theme/Patient subject and transitive constructions with …

Differentiated Experiential Learning Through Play As Supplemental Support For Prekindergarten Students, Charles S. Reed

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods action research study examined prekindergarten students in a Title I program and the impact of differentiated experiential learning though play on their attitudes and learning of mathematical skills as measured by a standardized test. The identified problem of practice involved students not being given enough differentiated experiential learning through play opportunities. The research questions that guided this study are as follows: 1) What are the attitudes/perspectives of the parents, educators, and administrators on the value of play in early childhood education? 2) How does providing experiential learning through play impact students’ attitudes toward math? 3) How does …