Digital Commons Network^™

Thermodynamic Modeling Of Uranium Nitride With Select Actinides And Fission Products, Eric Reece Mcmanus

Theses and Dissertations

Uranium mononitride fuel is being investigated as a potential nuclear fuel for a Westinghouse lead-cooled fast reactor due to factors such as its high uranium density, high melting point, and favorable thermal conductivity. To obtain an understanding of the thermochemical behavior of UN fission products and minor actinides, thermodynamic data was obtained from various resources to create a database to represent the behavior of the fuel. This database was used to generate an Ellingham diagram to represent the relative thermodynamic stability of the phases over the reactor temperature range. A simulation was run computing the equilibrium state of the fuel, …

Bass-Triadic Cadence Formulae In Melchior Neusidler’S Original Compositions From Il Primo (-Secondo) Intabolatura Di Liuto, Christopher Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

There was a paradigmatic shift in the discourse surrounding lute music between the early sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The lute treatises written by early sixteenth-century German lutenists, such as Hans Judenkünig, Hanse Gerle, and Hans Newsidler, focused on technical directives that support a linear conception of music. However, lutenists active in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, such as Matthaeus Waissel and Jean-Baptiste Besard, describe technical accommodations for vertically conceived structures. Contemporaneously, at the turn of the seventeenth century, the discourse on bass primacy and triadic structures developed from an undercurrent, cast in the shadow of counterpoint treatises, to …

Examining The Overall Impact Of Computer-Based Mathematics Instruction On Math Achievement In An Alternative High School, Jacqueline Levon Gilyard

Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, the United States has witnessed a remarkable surge in computer-based instruction, revolutionizing the way students learn and educators teach. This action research study aimed to investigate the overall impact of computer-based instruction on mathematics achievement in the alternative high school setting. The research design incorporated both quantitative and qualitative methods to gather comprehensive data for twenty high school students enrolled in an alternative high school setting. The quantitative data analysis involved examining pre-and post-test scores, graduation data, and final course grades to assess the effect of computer-based instruction on mathematics achievement. All of the students showed …

Uav-Based Tracking And Following Of Railroad Lines, Keith Michael Lewandowski

Theses and Dissertations

Given the pivotal role of the railroad industry in modern transportation and the potential risks associated with track malfunctions, the inspection and maintenance of railroad tracks emerges as a critical concern. While existing solutions excel in performing accurate measurements and detection, they often rely on large, expensive, and time-consuming platforms for inspections. This project, however, seeks to solve the same problem with the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), significantly reducing time and cost while maintaining detection capabilities. In particular, this solution is ideal for large-scale, high-level inspections following major events such as floods [6], hurricanes [7] or earthquakes …

An Assessment Of Drinking Water Equity In South Carolina: Access, Affordability, Quality, And Private Well Resources, Catherine Lippert Min

Theses and Dissertations

Universal access to good quality, affordable drinking water is a goal that has not yet been reached in the United States. Recently, national studies have investigated drinking water burdens including lack of access to complete plumbing, unaffordability, and poor quality individually. However, no study has examined all of these drinking water burdens together to identify communities facing multiple burdens. This study addresses this gap by analyzing disparities in access to complete plumbing, affordability of public water sources, and drinking water quality of community water systems in South Carolina and identifying communities that face multiple burdens. This study also provides the …

Exploring Heat Variations In Columbia, South Carolina, Michael Graeme Hohlfeld

Theses and Dissertations

As the leading cause of weather-related fatalities in the United States, the concept of heat as a hazard has been studied for decades, especially in the urban environment. Urban heat island research is limited by the fact that most investigate land surface temperature rather than air temperature and other variables that affect human comfort including humidity. This thesis utilizes a public network of weather stations in Richland County, South Carolina to investigate differences in heat between the city of Columbia, and more rural parts of the county. The study period was June, July, and August of 2022. Results indicate that …

Microchannel Slip Flow Characteristics By Time Travel After Photobleaching Velocimetry, Brandon James Sellers

Theses and Dissertations

Interfacial science follows the study of observing behavior between two or more phases of matter when in contact. For example, a liquid solution passes through a microchannel, and the walls interact with the fluid shearing along the surface. The fluid particles develop momentum changes from interfacial phenomena and slip along the wall begins to affect the fluid body. Slip flow is a name for the phenomenon, and with it, modeling velocity for the interfacial behavior demands both resolution and minimal interference. Laser-induced fluorescence photobleaching anemometry (LIFPA) works as a sound method for acquiring data on microchannel flow, but it needed …

Examining The Impact Of A Professional Learning Community On Teachers' Awareness Of Neurodiversity In The Classroom, Taylor Diane Williams

Theses and Dissertations

In this action research study, the researcher sought to explore the influence of Professional Learning Community (PLC) participation on the recognition and awareness of general education teachers on neurodiversity in their classrooms. Additionally, the study aimed to investigate the effects of the teachers’ awareness on their instructional approaches. The participants of this study hail from a variety of cultures and languages from around the world. Conducted over a six-week period in an international school in southern Germany, the participants demonstrated an enhanced understandings of neurodiversity through their engagement in the PLC sessions. The data collection tools used in the study …

Evaluating Nutrient Limitation Of Phytoplankton Growth In North Inlet Estuary, Sc, Catherine Schlenker

Theses and Dissertations

The biolimiting nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are vital components of molecules essential to life. In marine systems, N:P ratios tend to follow the “Redfield ratio” of 16:1, which is often used to infer nutrient limitation of phytoplankton biomass. Traditionally, estuaries are thought to be N-limited (N:P < 16), but there have been increasing instances of P-limitation (N:P > 16) in coastal waters worldwide. Over the last few decades, nutrient loading in North Inlet Estuary (NIE) has changed such that dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN):dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) ratios have increased by ca. 130%. This increase suggests that the estuary may be transitioning to N and P colimitation or primary P-limitation. We …

Environmental Implication Of Environmental Disclosure, Jie Lian

Theses and Dissertations

Recent environmental incidents and disasters have intensified awareness and concerns about environmental issues, making the reduction of the private sector’s environmental impact a pressing necessity. The path to better environmental performance depends on enhancing environmental disclosure. While an increasing number of firms are embracing environmental disclosure, and legislative efforts are steering towards mandating such disclosures, the comprehensive understanding of the environmental implications of these disclosures remains surprisingly limited. A significant gap exists in understanding the challenges of environmental disclosure in promoting sustainability and complex consequences in various contexts.

The dissertation aims to fill this literature gap by focusing on the …

“…She Complained…”: The Female Complaint And Voice In F. Scott Fitzgerald’S Works, Kristina Syrigos

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis explores the themes of female complaint and female voices in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, specifically focusing on "The Cut-Glass Bowl," "Winter Dreams," and The Great Gatsby. Drawing on J. L. Austin's concept of performative speech and Sarah Ahmed and Lauren Berlant’s explorations of the female complaint, I argue that Fitzgerald's female characters are silenced, dismissed, and punished when they express their wants, desires, and grievances. Despite their attempts to use their voices, words, and complaints to enact change in their lives, these women are portrayed as nagging and powerless, oftentimes being punished for speaking up, …

Examining The Effects Of Physical Education Teacher Behaviors On Actual Motor Competence And The Associations Among Actual Motor Competence, Perceived Motor Competence, Enjoyment In Physical Education, And Physical Activity In Early Childhood, Unjong Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Physical Education (PE) can be considered a black box when the interactions between the teacher and the students are unknown. PE as the black box has been embedded in the process-product paradigm. PE teachers can be critical role models for fostering students’ actual motor competence (AMC) because students can learn from what they observe from teachers’ behaviors. Additionally, AMC, perceived motor competence (PMC), and enjoyment in PE can be potential factors to increase students’ PA in schoolbased setting. Therefore, this dissertation consists of two studies that examine PE teacher behaviors, AMC, PMC, enjoyment in PE, and PA in early childhood …

Controlling Properties Of Hybrid Materials: Leaching Kinetics And Electronic Structure, Anna Berseneva

Theses and Dissertations

Hybrid materials are a unique class of materials that merge the properties of organic and inorganic building blocks. These materials are at the frontier of material science due to their wide modularity and applicability in numerous fields, ranging from catalysis to nuclear waste treatment. Unprecedented tunability of physical properties via changes in organic, inorganic moieties and their connectivity, enables for hybrid materials to address current challenges in the materials’ applications improving energy landscape.

The presented work consists of six chapters where the synthesis and design of new hybrid materials, fundamental understanding of electronic behavior and its modulation in organic-inorganic materials, …

Long-Range White Matter Fibres And Post-Stroke Verbal And Non-Verbal Cognition, Rebecca W. Roth, Deena Schwen Blackett, Ezequiel Gleichgerrcht, Janina Wilmskoetter, Chris Rorden, Roger Newman-Norlund, Souvik Sen, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D., Natalie Busby, Leonardo Bonilha

Faculty Publications

Among stroke survivors, linguistic and non-linguistic impairments exhibit substantial inter-individual variability. Stroke lesion volume and location do not sufficiently explain outcomes, and the neural mechanisms underlying the severity of aphasia or non-verbal cognitive deficits remain inadequately understood. Converging evidence supports the idea that white matter is particularly susceptible to ischaemic injury, and long-range fibres are commonly associated with verbal and non-verbal function. Here, we investigated the relationship among post-stroke aphasia severity, cognition, and white matter integrity. Eighty-seven individuals in the chronic stage of stroke underwent diffusion MRI and behavioural testing, including language and cognitive measures. We used whole-brain structural connectomes …

Mathematical Modeling And Reconstruction Of Porous Media To Understand Transport Phenomena For Electrochemical System Applications, Mitchell Sepe

Theses and Dissertations

Alternative power generation has grown significantly in the space of energy production over the last ten years. Development of new technologies to produce energy is vital to the growing need for electricity. Batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and countless other renewable energy options have been deemed necessary to create an overall greener future. Fuels cells when combined with electrolyzer show a promising system for stationary power generation. Both technologies are comprised of multiple parts in contact that must work together simultaneously to create an ideal environment for catalytic reactions to take place. A crucial component to a properly functioning cell …

Automated Data-Flow Optimization For Digital Signal Processors, Madushan Thilina Abeysinghe

Theses and Dissertations

Digital signal processors (DSP), which are characterized by statically-scheduled Very-Long Instruction Word architectures and software-defined scratchpad memory, are currently the go-to processor type for low-power embedded vision systems, as exemplified by the DSP processors integrated into systems-on-chips from NVIDIA, Samsung, Qualcomm, Apple, and Texas Instruments. DSPs achieve performance by statically scheduling workloads, both in terms of data movement and instructions. We developed a method for scheduling buffer transactions across a data flow graph using data-driven performance models, yielding a 25% average reduction in execution time and a reduction of up to 85% DRAM utilization for randomly-generated data flow graphs. We …

How Latinx Students Experience A High School English Class In A Monolingual School District, Elisa Malinovitz

Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to address the needs of the fastest growing population at my school, I asked Latinx students to share their experiences of being in a monolingual English 2 classroom. Students also shared opinions about friendships, Latinx culture in school, and alternative methods of educating non-English speakers.

Through action research we can assess the exigencies of Latinx learners. Further study is needed to determine evolving needs and best practices for increasing the academic achievement for this population. Some possible solutions to Latinx students falling behind their hegemonic peers include incorporating Latinx culture in curriculum and school culture, as well …

Unpacking The Relationship Between Legitimacy, Procedural Justice, Identity, And Desistance, Qassim Bolaji

Theses and Dissertations

Knowing why people stop offending over time and the criminal justice agencies' role in this process is essential for designing effective crime control interventions. Legal authorities have the core function of ensuring that social norms and laws are obeyed. However, the coercive and punitive tactics that police, judicial, and penal authorities typically resort to have been shown to have only limited impact on controlling and preventing crime while having the unintended consequence of worsening the public's perception of their institutional legitimacy. Specific to policing, the use of coercive policing tactics and their perceived ineffectiveness has, in recent decades, led to …

Simultaneous Crack & Wave Propagation And Acoustic Emission Signal Modelling Using Peri-Elastodynamic, Md Mushfiqur Rahman Fahim

Theses and Dissertations

This work presents the use of Peri-Elastodynamic, a guided wave simulation method based on meshfree non-local Peridynamics theory. To model simultaneous crack and wave propagation simulation and its application on Acoustic Emission (AE) signal modelling, a new formulation is presented. The field of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) is slowly embracing the advancement in Machine Learning (ML) / Artificial Intelligence (AI) for better and cost-effective assessment of structures and damage prediction. AI/ML can revolutionize the NDE/SHM field by automating the data collection and analyzing processes. However, the big challenge is that the model needs a sheer amount …

Patients’ Experience Of Care Following Perinatal Case Conference, Mary Elise Nolen

Theses and Dissertations

The Perinatal Case Conference (PCC) at Prisma Health-Midlands Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) is a biweekly multidisciplinary meeting to discuss pregnancies with prenatally identified congenital anomalies. Patients are primarily cared for by MFM and may have appointments with various subspecialists during their pregnancy. The goals of the PCC are multidisciplinary collaboration in planning for the management of each pregnancy and familiarizing each practitioner with the pending cases, so if or when intervention is needed, the clinicians are familiar with the case.

Researchers performed a chart review and surveyed patients whose pregnancies were discussed in the PCC to learn the patient’s perspective of …

The Impact Of Professional Development On 4th-6th Grade Science Teacher's Pck Of Argumentation And Science Teaching Self-Efficacy, Tiffany Fowler

Theses and Dissertations

With the 2015 change in science standards to align more closely with the Next Generation Science Standards, as the district STEM coach, I saw a need for professional development that addressed the lack of understanding and skill needed to teach the Science and Engineering Practices, specifically the practice of Scientific Augmentation. This mixed-methods action research study aimed to investigate the impact of professional development and coaching on 4th-6th grade science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of scientific argumentation and their self-efficacy to teach scientific argumentation. Data collection consisted of (a) PCK of Argumentation Assessment, (b) PRIME PCK Rubric and observation …

Medieval To Modern: Morgan Le Fay As Folk Icon Of Women In Power In Modern King Arthur Stories, Colleen Victoria Etman

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation interrogates the ways that society views women with/in power through Arthurian adaptation. The body of work that makes up the Arthurian story is a sort of folk legend, a myth being told and retold by various authors in their own way. By using folk studies to analyze both medieval and modern texts, we can dissect what is important enough to remain over time. This signifies cultural values; things that have remained over time are reflective of the values of the writers producing these works, as well as the audiences consuming them. By interrogating these stories, we can make …

Maternal-Child Cortisol Attunement Differs In Preschoolers With Autism, Fragile X Syndrome, And Neurotypical Development, Rachel Hantman

Theses and Dissertations

Early maternal-child attunement sets a critical foundation for later social development. While maternal and child cortisol attunement in neurotypical (NT) development has been clearly established, little research has examined these relations in neurodevelopmental populations, such as those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). Given their elevated-risk for disrupted maternal-child attunement and given elevated stress and dysregulated cortisol patterns in both children with ASD and FXS and their parents independently, this is a critical gap. This study addressed this gap in the literature by examining early maternal-child cortisol attunement in 97 mother-child dyads (_nNT = …

Investigating Arctic Ocean Freshwater Content And Circulation In A Changing Climate, Emma Louise Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic Ocean is unique among the world’s oceans, characterized by its cold temperatures, salinity-driven vertical structure, and shallow shelf seas. It has warmed intensely since the 1980s at rates exceeding the global average. This Arctic Amplification drives variability in sea ice and salinity, affecting local circulation and exchange with other basins, leading to global changes in oceanic and atmospheric circulation and the biosphere. This thesis explores changing dynamics in the Arctic Ocean, in particular connecting modeled changes in liquid freshwater content (FWC) and its pathways with major ocean circulation patterns, atmospheric drivers, and large-scale climatic changes.

This research combines …

Systemic Moves, Individual Impacts: Narratives Of Best Practices In Supporting Immigrant Women In Rural Community Colleges In The Canadian Prairies, Katherine Jean Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations

Rural Canada is in decline, and as such has begun recruiting immigrants to rural areas to fill crucial labour gaps. This study explores the ways in which rural community colleges can best support immigrant women in Canada. Using narrative inquiry, it captures the voices of women who successfully completed programs in a rural community college in the prairies. The study reveals best practices in supporting immigrant women and highlights the importance of creating programming that is tailored to student needs to ensure success.

The Effect Of Voluntarily Disclosing An Earnings Surprise On Management Operating Decisions, Jonathan Gay

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research extensively examines the external implications of voluntarily disclosing an earnings surprise, yet the internal implications remain understudied. Using two experiments, I examine whether the preemptive voluntary disclosure of an earnings surprise influences management operating decisions. Drawing upon mental accounting and the realization effect, I predict that managers are more likely to make inefficient operating decisions when an earnings surprise is expected and that a quantitative, but not qualitative, voluntary disclosure will mitigate this value-sacrificing behavior. I find that managers are more likely to make inefficient operating decisions when a negative, but not a positive, earnings surprise is expected …

Assessing Obgyn Residents’ Knowledge, Attitudes, And Current Practices For Carrier Screening, Aubrey Morgan Surian

Theses and Dissertations

Obstetricians and gynecologists (OBGYNs) are the main providers that order carrier screening on a regular basis, so it is important to understand their knowledge, attitudes, and current practices regarding this screening. There are two primary professional organizations that have established practice guidelines for carrier screening, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG). With the growth of pan-ethnic carrier screening, these guidelines have become remarkably different. This study aimed to assess resident OBGYN’s utilization of pan-ethnic carrier screening, discern any discrepancies between knowledge, attitudes, and current practices, identify possible practice resources that may …

“I’M Speaking”: Black Women Leading School Public Relations, Managing Communications And Personal Challenges, Keisa Gunby

Theses and Dissertations

Operationalizing feminist communication theory with a critical lens, this research analyzes virtual, semi-structured interviews with 13 Black women who are integral to impacting organizational culture through the brand management and narratives to the stakeholder groups of employees, parents and community members for a public school district. This study aims to describe the oppression and invisibility of Black women in school public relations and amplify their voices as they lead the communication, marketing, and promotional efforts in public school districts across the United States. The interview transcripts were analyzed utilizing NVivo software through the first round of coding initial and the …

Estuarine Microbial Community Composition And Efficiency Changes In Response To Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Exposure, Sarah Mulligan

Theses and Dissertations

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is a pathogenic bacterium whose full impact on natural estuarine phytoplankton communities has not been fully resolved. The primary goal of this research was to test how the addition of V. parahaemolyticus to a natural estuarine microbial community would impact the other microbes present. We hypothesized V. parahaemolyticus exposure would reduce phytoplankton biomass and alter the composition of phytoplankton and bacterial communities. Experimental bioassays (60h) were used to assess the effects of the presence of V. parahaemolyticus . Samples for measurements of chemotaxonomic photopigment concentrations, 16S sequencing-based community composition, photosynthetic efficiency, cell density, and V. parahaemolyticus abundance were …

Scene Text Detection And Recognition Via Discriminative Representation, Liang Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Scene texts refer to arbitrary text presented in an image captured by a camera in the real world. The tasks of scene text detection and recognition from complex images play a crucial role in computer vision, with potential applications in scene understanding, information retrieval, robotics, autonomous driving, etc. Despite the notable progress made by existing deep-learning methods, achieving accurate text detection and recognition remains challenging for robust real-world applications. The challenges in scene text detection and recognition stem from: 1) diverse text shapes, fonts, colors, styles, layouts, etc.; 2) countless combinations of characters with unfixed attributes for complete detection, coupled …