Digital Commons Network^™

Explorations Of Multi-Carboranyl Thiols And Phosphines, Jared Ross Riffle

Theses and Dissertations

In order to ascribe the impact of substituent groups on the bis-ortho-carborane, closo-{C2B10}-closo-{C2B10} multi-cluster system, the first sulfur-containing biscarborane derivatives were synthesized. Biscarborane dithiol, disulfide, bis(methyl)thioether, as well as multiple dithiolate salts were structurally characterized. The exceedingly long C–C bonds and shortened C–S bonds in biscarborane dithiol and its doubly deprotonated dithiolate salts are indicative of significant delocalization of electron density from the sulfur atoms into the cluster. Additionally, a new concept of ligand ambiphilicity is described where, instead of the involvement of only a single center in a ligand, this amphiphilicity relies on the redox behavior of the indirectly …

Investigating The Use Of Socio-Scientific Issues As Phenomena Through A Storyline Framework In A High School Biology Course, Dana Marie Delpha

Theses and Dissertations

This action research dissertation investigates the efficacy of a socio-scientific phenomena-driven biology curriculum in a Title 1 Massachusetts High School. Grounded in social constructivism, culturally relevant pedagogy, and self-determination theories, the study explores the impact of socio-scientific phenomena on students’ perceived importance of science education, motivation, engagement, and achievement. A mixed-methods approach was used, and data was collected through student engagement reflection, Science Motivation Questionnaire, and pre- and post-assessments to holistically evaluate the efficacy of the curriculum. The findings include increased student engagement, motivation, and achievement after participating in the intervention, which supports the motivation-engagement-achievement feedback loop. Student agency was …

The Influence Of Instruction On Underrepresented Stem Leaders On Elementary Students’ Stem Identity And Perceptions Of Stem, Megan Elizabeth Willson

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study explored the influence of exposure to underrepresented STEM leaders on third-grade students’ STEM identity and their interest in STEM careers. Using an integrative STEM approach and guided by both Constructivist Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, this convergent mixed methods study consisted of an eight-week intervention with lessons based on different STEM leaders and related activities each week. This eight-week period collected data through weekly researcher field notes, exit tickets and was prefaced and followed by a pre- and post-survey and pre- and post-interviews. Findings from the quantitative data, the Role Identity Survey in STEM …

The Impact Of Microlearning Professional Development On Educator Social And Emotional Competencies And Beliefs About Middle School Students’ Social And Emotional Learning, Kelly M. Abbott

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted educational experiences for students with extended school closures and social distancing during the 2020-2021 school year and beyond. School closures, social isolation, and societal issues impacted students and caused mental health challenges as well as behavioral issues in the classroom. This study explored the impact of educator social and emotional competencies (SEC) on social and emotional learning (SEL) in the classroom. Previous research on SEL has found benefits to student’s relationship skills, emotional regulation abilities, and increases in academic achievement. This action research study used a mixed method design to gather data from surveys, interviews, classroom …

Stability Of Space-Time Finite Element Discretizations Of Subdiffusive Time-Fractional Differential Equations, Gabriel Kenneth Staton

Theses and Dissertations

The study of anamolous diffusion, and in particular of subdiffusive time-fractional differential equations, is of great interest for its ability to describe transport of particles through porous media. The time-fractional derivatives in these problems are nonlocal, which notably hinders performance of classical time-stepping methods. As a result, there is significant interest in using simultaneous space-time discretizations for these subdiffusive problems, which have the additional benefit of significantly relaxing the regularity requirements for candidate solutions. These types of Petrov-Galerkin schemes require a careful choice of discretized trial and test spaces in order to guarantee stability; in particular, the usual Galerkin choice …

How Exposure To Professional Development Affects Teachers’ Use Of Tier One Behavior Interventions, Taurean Jarquise Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that ongoing professional development is most beneficial for teachers. However, many schools cannot provide the time teachers need to participate in the frequent meetings, discussions, and reflections needed to cause professional growth. Student behavior continues to be an area in which teachers need support. Many teachers report that student behavior is one reason they often become unhappy with their jobs and leave their education career altogether. The qualitative action research study used strategies aligned with Culturally Relevant Pedagogy to offer six teachers professional development in Tier 1 behavior interventions. The data gathered measured how much Tier 1 behavior …

The Design And Optimization Of Optical Systems For The Detection And Characterization Of Phytoplankton, Caitlyn M. English

Theses and Dissertations

Phytoplankton are among the smallest organisms found in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Despite their small size, phytoplankton play a vital role in sustaining life on Earth as primary producers. Through oxygenic photosynthesis phytoplankton are also responsible for large scale carbon fixation and oxygen production. The distribution of phytoplankton in a given water resource can exhibit a high degree of variability across time and space, and this is in large part due to their varying sensitivities to environmental conditions such as resource availability and grazing by predator organisms. As such, phytoplankton community structure is widely used as an investigative tool for …

Gateways To Reading: Action Research With At-Risk Students At An Alternative School, David Sean Goff

Theses and Dissertations

There is no shortage of research on how low levels of literacy disproportionately affect students of color, but this research was interested in how three theoretical models may impact this trend. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the reading experiences and engagement levels of students in an alternative school English class, applying culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP), self-determination theory (SPD), and zone of proximal development (ZPD). CRP is a theoretical model that upholds students’ cultural identities, while pursuing academic success. ZPD is a theoretical model that suggests learning occurs when content is within students’ ability. SDT is …

Systems Check: A Qualitative Case Study Of Educators And Parent-Educators Supporting Adolescent Readers From An Ecological Systems Perspective, Kristi Nicole Grooms

Theses and Dissertations

In spite of decades of research and an abundance of well-intentioned intervention efforts, supporting adolescent readers, particularly at the middle level, remains a significant area of concern for educators in the United States. The struggles are present for educators working to help underperforming readers reach grade-level and keep advanced readers motivated and engaged. At home, parents and guardians experience similar challenges. Data on adolescent comprehension performance continues to be frustrating in terms of producing consistent positive results. This qualitative action research study investigated the ongoing challenge of supporting adolescent readers, specifically within the context of 7th grade, through a systems …

Extracting Metamorphic Histories Utilizing U-Pb Laser Ablation Zircon Geochronology From The Southern Appalachians Crystalline Rocks And Detrital Sediment, Meredith Kay Love Gawai

Theses and Dissertations

The southern Appalachian mountain belt is an accretionary orogen that formed in the southeastern United States through several phases of oceanic subduction and continental collision during the Paleozoic Era and culminated in the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea. Although many U-Pb zircon ages have been collected from the igneous, metaigneous and metasedimentary rocks in the crystalline core of the southern Appalachians, there remain opportunities to better reconstruct the metamorphic and magmatic history of the southern Appalachians through the lens of zircon geochronology. Such data are valuable in identifying genetic relationships between candidate terranes of the orogen. Herein, I present laser-ablation …

Addressing Self-Efficacy And Off-Task Cellphone Use In Art 1 With Differentiated Instruction To Increase Student Achievement, Natasia Gregory

Theses and Dissertations

The following study looks at the impact differentiated instruction can have on students in a high school Art 1 course. This study includes three Art 1 classes from the spring of 2024. One class was taught with differentiated instruction methods, which focus on creating authentic learning experiences that allow student choice and are tailored to students' particular learning needs. Two other classes were taught with a more traditional teaching method which I have used in previous semesters before the shutdown of COVID-19. Quantitative and qualitative data from traditionally marginalized low achieving students in these three classes was collected over the …

Towards Human Modeling For Human-Robot Collaboration And Digital Twins In Industrial Environments: Research Status, Prospects, And Challenges, Guoyi Xia, Zied Gharairi, Thorsten Wuest, Karl Hribernik, Aaron Heuermann, Furui Liu, Hui Liu, Klaus-Dieter Thoben

Faculty Publications

Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) and Digital Twins (DT) have significantly advanced industrial development and digital transformation. Human representations and models are essential in Industry 5.0, where human-centric is one of the key features. Despite the growing interest in human models for HRC and DT, a comprehensive overview of these models and enabling technologies currently needs to be provided. This paper aims to present the research status, prospects, applications, and challenges of human modeling for HRC and DT in industrial environments. This paper adopts a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. Moreover, a framework is proposed to systematize human modeling aspects, the technologies …

Academic And Cerebrovascular Outcomes After Neurodevelopmental Screening In Sickle Cell Disease: A Longitudinal Cohort Study, Sarah E. Bills, Jeffrey Schatz, Elizabeth Gillooly, Julia D. Johnston, A. Lauren Waters, Alyssa M. Schlenz

Faculty Publications

Aim

To assess the predictive validity of neurodevelopmental screening in toddlers and preschool children with sickle cell disease (SCD) using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ). We expected screening in preschool children to predict academic problems in elementary school and future stroke risk.

Method

Using a longitudinal cohort design, academic problems (e.g. grade retention, failing a subject) and increases in stroke risk (e.g. abnormal transcranial Doppler exam) were assessed for a 6-year period after neurodevelopmental screening in 2-year-olds (‘toddlers’) and 4-year-olds (‘preschool children’) using medical record review, which included annual information from parents about school functioning. Biopsychosocial variables were examined …

Trump And The Us Energy Transition, Conor M. Harrison

Faculty Publications

The US electricity grid has seen a rapid increase in the amount of renewable energy over the last decade, with many renewable advocates viewing the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 as the catalyst to move the grid towards 100% clean energy. The 2024 elections, however, have significantly muddied the path. In this commentary, I posit what the Trump administration—and related Republican control of both houses of the US Congress—means for the US electricity system. I begin by briefly outlining the contours of federal and state electricity governance, the design of Inflation Reduction Act, the existing drivers of renewable energy growth …

Enhancing Self-Efficacy For Engagement With Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Initiatives: Evaluation Of A Seven-Day Immersive Pilot Program In A College Of Education, Health, And Human Sciences, Jennifer M. Jabson Tree, Stefanie Benjamin, Dorian L. Mccoy Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Colleges of health, human sciences, and education are often administratively organized to include a diverse array of human sciences departments that share roots in social justice and a commitment to advancing equity and inclusion. Despite espoused commitments to equity and inclusion, they frequently struggle to achieve the changes necessary for advancing equity, and inclusion principles across policies, practices, procedures, and units. We implemented and evaluated a 7-day, total immersion, 56-h, educational program entitled the “Social Justice Institute” (SJI) for two cohorts of faculty, staff, and administrators to develop self-efficacy to intervene in systemic oppression in their academic units. SJI delivered …

Changes In The Incidence, Viral Coinfection Pattern And Outcomes Of Pneumococcal Hospitalizations During And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, King-Pui Florence Chan, Ting Fung Ma, Hanshu Fang, Wai-Kai Tsui, James Chung-Man Ho, Mary Sau-Man Ip, Pak-Leung Ho

Faculty Publications

Background

The incidence of pneumococcal pneumonia in the context of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, along with the real-world data on the ratio of non-invasive to invasive pneumococcal pneumonia, is an area that has not been thoroughly studied. The outcomes associated with coinfection of influenza and COVID-19 remain unknown. This study examined the incidence, demographics, coinfection with influenza and/or COVID-19, and clinical outcomes of pneumococcal hospitalizations in Hong Kong during the baseline, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods.

Methods

Hospitalization records of individuals aged 18 years and above with pneumococcal disease from January 2015 to August 2024 were extracted from the …

Mechanism Of Property Enhancement Of Cu−Ti Alloys Via Microalloying With Cr And Mg Elements, Huan Wei, Hong Wei, Hua-Yun Du, Qian Wang, Cai-Zhi Zhou, Ying-Hui Weu, Li-Feng Hou

Faculty Publications

The effect of adding Cr and Mg on the microstructure and properties of Cu−Ti alloys was examined. Cu−Ti−Cr−Mg alloys were fabricated using vacuum induction melting. The microstructure and phase composition of Cu−Ti−Cr−Mg alloys in different aging states were characterized. Additionally, the hardness and electrical conductivity of the materials were investigated. Results show that the precipitation pattern in Cu−Ti−Cr−Mg alloys resembled that of binary Cu−Ti alloys, with Cr and Ti forming the intermetallic compound of Cr2Ti during casting. The introduction of Cr and Mg increased the hardness of the alloy. Increasing the Mg content in the Cu−Ti−Cr−Mg alloy led to grain …

Scalable Cyber-Physical Testbed For Cybersecurity Evaluation Of Synchrophasors In Power Systems, Shuvangkar Chandra Das, Tuyen Vu, Hebert L. Ginn Iii

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a synchrophasor-based real-time cyber-physical power system testbed with a novel security evaluation tool, pySynphasor, that can emulate different real attack scenarios on the phasor measurement unit (PMU). The testbed focuses on real-time cyber-security emulation using different components, including a real-time digital simulator, virtual machines (VM), a communication network emulator, and a packet manipulation tool. The script-based VM deployment and software-defined network emulation facilitate a highly scalable cyber-physical testbed, which enables emulations of a real power system under different attack scenarios such as address resolution protocol (ARP) poisoning attack, man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, false data injection attack (FDIA), and …

Sexually Transmitted Infection (Sti) Incidence And Risk Factors Among People With Hiv (Pwh): Insights From A 13-Year Cohort Study In South Carolina, Salome-Joelle Gass, Shujie Chen, Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Bankole Olatosi

Faculty Publications

The Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative aims to reduce new HIV infections by 90% by 2030 in the United States (US). However, rising sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates exacerbate the bidirectional infection risk between HIV and STIs. Most research on STIs among people with HIV (PWH) has focused on high-risk groups, resulting in limited data on broader populations. This study addresses that gap by examining the incidence and risk factors for gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis in a statewide cohort of PWH in South Carolina. Data from South Carolina’s HIV and STI surveillance systems were linked, and all PWH aged …

Environmental Risk And Alpha-Gal Syndrome (Ags) In The Mid-Atlantic United States, Brandon D. Hollingsworth Ph.D., Margaret Wiener, Dana A. Giandimenico, Scott P. Commins, Ross M. Boyce

Faculty Publications

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), commonly referred to as the tick bite red meat allergy, has been reported worldwide with the number of suspected cases in the United States increasing from 24 in 2009 to over 34,000 in 2019. Within the US, AGS is associated with the bite of two tick species, Amblyomma americanum and Ixodes scapularis, and has particularly high incidence rates in the mid-Atlantic region. Because AGS is associated with tick bites, the risk of developing AGS is affected by the environment individuals visit. Despite this, as well as the numerous studies associating the environment with Am. americanum, …

Effect Of Precursors On Trimetallic Ruthenium-Based Catalysts Supported On Γ‑Al2O3 Pellets For Low-Temperature Ammonia Decomposition, Christopher J. Koch, Jennifer Naglic, Logan Kearney, Daniel Clairmonte, Binod Rai, Jochen A. Lauterbach, Lucas M. Angelette, Tyler Guin

Faculty Publications

Ammonia is a promising candidate as a liquid hydrogen energy storage medium, but it requires catalytic decomposition (ammonia cracking) to regenerate hydrogen. Recently developed trimetallic ruthenium−potassium-promoter (RuKM) ammonia decomposition catalysts have exceptionally low ammonia decomposition temperatures, able to perform the decomposition as low as 250 °C, which is significantly lower than other known catalysts that require temperatures above 500 °C. However, the effects of the RuKM precursor on the catalytic activity have not been investigated. We report the observed differences of 3% ruthenium/12% potassium/1% yttrium (RuKY) catalysts on γ-alumina synthesized from chloride-, nitrate-, and acetate-based precursors. Catalysts synthesized from chloride-based …

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Aducanumab Versus Placebo For Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Mild Alzheimer’S Disease, Xiaomo Xiong, Gang Lv, Jacob Jordan King, Minghui Li, Jing Yuan, Z Kevin Lu

Faculty Publications

Objectives To assess the cost-effectiveness of aducanumab at its updated price for treating patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Design Cost-effectiveness analysis.

Settings A five-state Markov model was constructed using 10 000 virtual patients to assess the cost-effectiveness of aducanumab from the perspective of the US healthcare system. The model employed a one-year cycle time and a lifetime time horizon. Transition probabilities and mortality rates were derived from a literature review. To address uncertainty and generalise the base case results, both one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted.

Participants 10 000 virtual patients with MCI …

Vocal And Articulatory Speech Control Deficits In Individuals With Post-Stroke Aphasia, Roozbeh Behroozmand, Zeinab Khoshhal Mollasaraei, Vahid Nejati, Ayoub Daliri, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Individuals with post-stroke aphasia exhibit deficits in regulating vocal (i.e., laryngeal) pitch control during speech vowel production; however, it is not determined whether such deficits also exist when they control their supra-laryngeal speech articulators during word production. To address this question, 19 subjects with post-stroke aphasia and 20 controls were tested under an altered auditory feedback paradigm in which they received + 30% shifts in their vowel first-formant frequency during word production. In addition, 17 aphasia subjects and 19 controls from the same groups also completed steady vowel vocalizations while receiving randomized pitch shifts at ± 100 cents. Consistent with …

Human Capital And Lifetime Income Gains Of Scaling-Up Small-Quantity Lipid Nutrient Supplements Among Children Under 2 Years: A Modelling Analysis, Nandita Perumal Phd, Goodrarz Danaei, Günther Fink, Mark Lambiris, Christopher R. Sudfeld

Faculty Publications

Undernutrition in early childhood is associated with adverse health and developmental outcomes later in life and remains a persistent global public health problem. Providing small-quantity lipid nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) to children aged 6-24 months improves child growth and neurodevelopmental outcomes, but the potential long-term benefits to human capital have not been previously estimated. We estimated the potential returns to schooling and lifetime income attributable to increasing coverage of SQ-LNS for children < 2 years of age from 0% to 50% or 90% per five-year birth cohort in five countries (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and Uganda) with a high burden of undernutrition. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to estimate the effect of SQ-LNS on child development using evidence from randomized controlled trials, and to estimate the returns to lifetime income as a function of change in development based on a de novo meta-analysis of observational economic studies. Gains in school years attributable to scaling-up SQ-LNS to 90% coverage ranged from 0.14 million school years (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 0.064, …

Leveraging Agent-Based Modeling And A Randomized Intervention To Advance Childhood Physical Activity: A Study Protocol, Matt Kasman, Adam B. Sedlak, Lydia Reader, William J. Heerman, Russell R. Pate, Amelie G. Ramirez, Evan C. Sommer, Shari L. Barkin, Ross A. Hammond

Faculty Publications

This study (1R01HD107002-01A1) protocol describes the planned creation and use of an agent-based model (ABM) of early childhood physical activity (PA). Successful early childhood PA interventions can potentially play an important role in both increasing overall population health as well as closing health disparities across subpopulations. At present, effective strategies for doing so are currently unknown. In large part, this is because PA determinants operate across levels dynamically, interact with one another, and can differ substantially across children. A complex systems approach—specifically, ABM—can be used to provide important insights about effect pathways driving child PA. Design of the proposed ABM …

Feature Typology And L2 Proficiency Matter: L3 Acquisition Of Portuguese, Mila Tasseva-Kurktchieva, Danielle Fahey

Faculty Publications

To determine the source of transfer in third language acquisition (L3A), we tested the effects of grammatical feature typology and L2 Spanish proficiency on the comprehension and production of grammatical [gender] and [number] in the early stages of L3A of Portuguese. We distinguish between the two features based on their participation in the lexical-conceptual structure of the lemma and its interaction with the morpho-syntactic derivation. L1 English speakers were tested on their knowledge of the features in both their L2 and their L3 through a grammaticality judgment task and an elicited production task. Results show that L3 learners transfer only …

White Matter Integrity Of Hearing And Cognitive Impairments In Healthy Aging, Samaneh Nemati, Meisam Arjmandi M.Sc., Ph.D., Jean Neils-Strunjas Ph.D, Ccc-Slp, Roger Newman-Norlund Ph.D., Sarah Newman-Norlund B.S., M.A., Laura Droege, Leonardo Bonilha, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Age-Related Hearing Loss (ARHL), or presbycusis, affects two-thirds of U.S. adults over 70 and is linked to cognitive decline and an increased risk of dementia. This study examines associations between white matter integrity and hearing and cognitive function in healthy aging using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We recruited 126 participants (92 female) aged 20–79 years () from the Aging Brain Cohort Study at the University of South Carolina (ABC@UofSC). Cognitive performance was assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and hearing was evaluated through pure-tone thresholds (PTT) and words-in-noise (WIN) thresholds. White matter integrity was measured with fractional anisotropy (FA) …

Displaced Decarbonization: Climate Necropolitics And The Contested Spatialities Of Green Hydrogen In Namibia, Meredith J. Deboom

Faculty Publications

Green hydrogen is often presented as a transformative solution to the dual challenges of decarbonization and economic development. This article applies the framework of climate necropolitics to interrogate the contested spatialities underlying such “win-win” narratives. It does so through an extended case study of Hyphen Hydrogen Energy, a $10 billion green hydrogen project planned for Lüderitz, Namibia. A remote town of 20,000 in a country with a $12 billion annual GDP, Lüderitz initially appears to be an unlikely host site for the “industrial fuel of the future.” To explain this outcome, I first illustrate how discordant socio-spatial projects—including European energy …

Explaining Youth Driver Licensing Determinants Using Xgboost And Shap, Kailai Wang, Jonas De Vos, Michael Smart, Sicheng Wang

Faculty Publications

This study explores the factors influencing driver's license acquisition among young individuals and examines its broader implications for mobility, safety, and sustainability. Leveraging nationally representative survey data on Millennials and Generation Z, we apply eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and SHapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) to identify key socioeconomic determinants of teenage driver's license attainment. Our findings reveal consistent predictors across both generations, including the percentage of licensed family members, household income per capita, educational attainment, and public transit ridership. We identify meaningful dose-response relationships, such as the increasing influence of licensed household members beyond a 0.75 threshold and the …

Two-Layer Formulation For Long-Runout Turbidity Currents: Theory And Bypass Flow Case, Hongbo Ma, Gary Parker, Matthieu Cartigny, Enrica Viparelli, S. Balachandar, Xudong Fu, Rossella Luchi

Faculty Publications

Turbidity currents, which are stratified, sediment-laden bottom flows in the ocean or lakes, can run out for hundreds or thousands of kilometres in submarine channels without losing their stratified structure. Here, we derive a layer-averaged, two-layer model for turbidity currents, specifically designed to capture long-runout. A number of previous models have captured runout of only tens of kilometres, beyond which thickening of the flows becomes excessive, and the models without a lateral overspill mechanism fail. In our framework, a lower layer containing nearly all the sediment is a faster, gravity-driven flow that propels an upper layer, where sediment concentration is …