Digital Commons Network^™

The Other Side Of Trusting: The Implications Of Vulnerability As A Core Component Of Organizational Relationships, Sam Dylan Strizver

Theses and Dissertations

Trusting behavior—discretionary risk-taking with another party—is the primary means of facilitating productive workplace relationships (Zand, 1979; Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995). Yet, little empirical evidence exists to explain what happens after employees engage in trusting behavior, but before outcomes materialize—otherwise termed the “vulnerability phase” (Ballinger, Schoorman, & Sharma, 2024: 2). To address this neglect, I develop a theoretical framework that positions vulnerability as a core psychological state within the trust process, shaped by trustors’ cognitive appraisals of risk severity and uncertainty. Drawing from research on stress and well-being, the framework also identifies coping as a key response to vulnerability, moderated …

Electrochemically Active Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers For Energy Generation And Storage, Jinyao Tang

Theses and Dissertations

The growing demand for sustainable energy has spurred interest in hydrogen as a clean energy carrier, yet its widespread adoption is limited by storage and transport challenges. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs) offer a promising solution by enabling reversible hydrogen storage through chemical redox reactions under ambient conditions. Compared to conventional thermal methods, LOHC electrochemistry provides improved energy efficiency, operational safety, and integration into electrochemical systems. However, key challenges remain, such as catalyst deactivation, limited redox reversibility, and low system-level performance that hinder broader application. Alcohols like isopropanol (IPA) and cyclohexanol (CHOL), and amines like ethylamine, have emerged as promising …

Beyond Entertainment: Unveiling Digital Platform Strategic Implications For International Business Growth Of Individual Entrepreneurs, Hoik Kim

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how digital identity, comprising visual, psychological, and strategic components, impacts entrepreneurial success on global digital platforms. Rather than treating identity as a static or aesthetic trait, this study conceptualizes it as a dynamic and strategic construct shaped by audience perception, algorithmic systems, and institutional environments. The research is structured into three empirical studies. The first explores how facial visibility and social media engagement affect monetization on YouTube, considering the international context. The second study empirically investigates how a biometric cue influences entrepreneurial performance on digital platforms and interprets the results through the lens of social psychological perspectives. …

On A Conjecture On Covering Systems And An Irreducibility Question On Sparse 0,1-Polynomials, Alexandros Kalogirou

Theses and Dissertations

In 1952, H. Davenport posed the problem of determining a condition on the minimum modulus $m_0$ in a finite distinct covering system that would imply that the sum of the reciprocals of the moduli in the covering system is bounded away from 1. In 1973, P.~Erd\H os and J.~Selfridge indicated that they believed that $m_0$ > 4 would suffice. We provide a proof that this is the case in Chapter 2. Chapters 3 and 4 are dedicated to showing that $0,1$-polynomials of high degree and few terms are irreducible with high probability. Formally, let $k\in\mathbb{N}$ and $F(x)=1+\sum_{i=1}^kx^{n_i}$, where $ 0

The Influence Of Sex Education On Sexual Behaviors From Adolescence To Young Adulthood In South Carolina, Megan Elizabeth Austin

Theses and Dissertations

Sex education in South Carolina (SC) is known to be limited, which may influence adolescent sexual behaviors, leading to a higher likelihood of lower ages of sexual initiation, more sexual partners, and more experiences of sexual violence. These behaviors are associated with many negative health outcomes.

A political content analysis of bills, laws, and educational standards provides insight to changes in political discourse around sex education from when the Comprehensive Health Education Act (CHEA) was passed in 1988 until 2024. A variable created through this analysis is used along with SC Youth Risk Behavior Survey data to assess changes in …

In Vivo Analysis Of Fe-S Cluster Assembly And Iron Homeostasis In Escherichia Coli, Dexter Mclaurin Reasons

Theses and Dissertations

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are an essential cofactor for a wide range of cellular processes, and their assembly and storage require tight regulation.

In Escherichia coli (E. coli), there are two pathways of Fe-S cluster assembly, the Isc and the Suf pathways. The Isc pathway is used under good growth conditions, and the Suf pathway is used under iron starvation and oxidative stress conditions. Once the cluster has been assembled on the scaffold protein of either pathway, it is transferred to Fe-S cluster trafficking proteins. In E. coli, the monothiol glutaredoxin GrxD and the BolA-type proteins BolA and IbaG …

Some Likelihood-Based Methods For Clustering Functional Data, Tong Shan

Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of functional data is an increasingly relevant part of statistics. The exploratory data analytic method of cluster analysis plays a very important role in different fields. Over the years, researchers have developed many clustering approaches, striving to achieve more accurate and efficient clustering. In Chapter 1, we aim to improve the accuracy of our outcome when clustering functional data. To achieve this goal, we use a predictive likelihood function which serves as an objective function to optimize in order to determine the most appropriate clusters. To optimize the objective function over the space of clustering partitions, we produce …

The Impact Of A Case-Based Learning (Cbl) Intervention In A Medical Spanish Course, Deonna Lavette Reliford

Theses and Dissertations

I implemented a different instructional approach for my medical Spanish course in Spring 2025. This case-based learning intervention utilized two main learning theories of socio-constructivism and situated learning theory in translation and interpreting studies (SLTIS) grounded in the learning design framework of case-based learning (CBL) to answer three research questions. Cases in both Spanish and English were provided for study participants to analyze and discuss. This research study used an embedded mixed-methods action research design (Efron & Ravid, 2020), with qualitative data embedded as the secondary source of data within a study that prioritized the primary quantitative data collected from …

Saw Biosensor For The Detection Of Cyanobacteria And Cyanotoxin, Tally Bovender

Theses and Dissertations

The growing prevalence of cyanobacterial blooms and associated cyanotoxins, such as microcystin-LR (MC-LR), presents a significant threat to water quality and public health. Conventional detection methods, including ELISA and PCR, are often time-consuming, expensive, and require trained personnel, limiting their application in field settings. Hence, a miniaturized, quick testing sensor is proposed to circumvent the current sensing challenges for real time, in-situ diagnostics of MC-LR. The proposed high-frequency ultrasonic sensor employs surface acoustic waves (SAW). The sensor was designed using a multi-physics simulation tool to understand wave propagation in the piezoelectric substrate (lithium tantalate) and optimize the design of the …

Design Of Supercritical Reactors To Understand Supercritical Water Oxidation Process And Hydrothermal Flames, Victor Dubceac

Theses and Dissertations

Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) has been a topic of immense interest as an effective technique/tool for hazardous aqueous waste disposal. SCWO can be achieved by introducing an oxidizer (e.g., H2O2), or a hydrothermal flame as an internal source of both heat and oxidizer species in an aqueous environment at conditions above the critical point of water (P > 218 atm and T > 647 K). SCWO poses important environmental advantages for the treatment of harmful organic materials contained in waste streams. An SCWO reactor has the potential to be compact in design and therefore can be an ideal alternative to existing technology …

On Berge Pancyclicity For Uniform Hypergraphs, Teegan Cole Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

An $n$-vertex graph $G$ is \textit{hamiltonian} if it contains a length $n$ cycle as a subgraph. A stronger notion of hamiltoncity is pancyclicity. A graph $G$ is \textit{pancyclic} if $G$ contains a cycle of length $k$ for every $3\leq k \leq n$. Dirac's classical result on hamiltonicity states that if an $n$-vertex graph $G$ has minimum degree $\delta(G)\geq \frac{n}{2}$, then $G$ is hamiltonian. Under the same minimum degree condition as Dirac, J. A. Bondy showed that $G$ must also be pancyclic or the exceptional graph $K_{\frac{n}{2}, \frac{n}{2}}$. In 1971, Bondy proposed a so called meta-conjecture claiming that \textit{``almost any nontrivial …

Optical And Thermal Characterization Of Vertically Conducting Β-Ga₂O₃ Diodes Grown On 4h-Sic Substrates For Short-Wavelength (<254 Nm) Detection, Muhammad Hassan Tahir

Theses and Dissertations

The advancement of compact, thermally stable, and efficient devices for deepultraviolet (DUV) detection below 254 nm is critical for solar-blind sensing, radiation monitoring, and high-power electronics. This thesis presents the growth, fabrication, and detailed optical and thermal characterization of vertically conducting β-gallium oxide (βGa₂O₃) Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) grown on n-type 4H-Silicon Carbide (4H-SiC) substrates using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD).

β-Ga₂O₃ is an ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor (~4.8 eV) with intrinsic DUV transparency and high breakdown electric field, making it an ideal candidate for short-wavelength photodetection. However, its low thermal conductivity limits its vertical device performance. To overcome this, …

Modeling The Interaction Between Pain And Movement: Insights From Brain Activation Patterns And Context-Dependent Emotion In Chronic Low Back Pain, Pradeep Kumar Sahu

Theses and Dissertations

In persons with chronic pain, fear or anxiety related to movement is a well-established model under the biopsychosocial framework that explains in part, the chronicity of symptoms commonly reported by individuals with chronic low back pain (cLBP). This dissertation aimed to further understand the link between the context-dependent emotion network in the brain and movement in two separate studies using brain functional MRI and autonomic nervous system indices. Aim 1sought to investigate the brain functional connectivity linking brain regions involved in context-dependent emotion and movement while cLBP participants moved their back inside the scanner by performing a modified trunk bridging …

Effect Of Growth Conditions On The Performance Of Vertically Conducting Beta-Ga2o3 Diodes On 4h-Sic Substrate By Mocvd, Nifat Jahan Nipa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis highlights the critical influence of doping strategies, specifically co-delta doping with silicon (Si) and indium (In), on improving the structural quality and device performance of β-Ga₂O₃-based Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs). To achieve better thermal management, β-Ga₂O₃ thin film was grown on bulk 4H-SiC substrates using the Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) technique, renowned for its precise control over composition, thickness and doping profile. The ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG), high critical breakdown field and low turn-on resistance of β-Ga₂O₃ make it a strong candidate for next-generation power electronics and short-wavelength detection in extreme environments. However, the presence of structural defects …

Artificial Intelligence In Sport Management: A Systematic Review, Scale Development And Validation, And Implications, Kemardo Tyrell

Theses and Dissertations

The democratization of intelligent systems and their ubiquitous presence across the sport industry have created an urgent need to understand the current environment and how stakeholders perceive artificial intelligence (AI) as it reshapes decision-making, engagement, and organizational design. This three-manuscript dissertation conceptualizes artificial intelligence as a contested domain shaped by stakeholder meaning-making, consumer perception, and shifts in organizational practice. The first manuscript provides a systematic review of AI in sport management using the PRISMA framework, mapping how AI has been conceptualized as a methodological tool or contextual innovation across the sport industry segmentation (performance, production, and promotion). The second manuscript …

​​I See Him In Me: Implementing Culturally Responsive Small Group Reading For Multilingual Learners, Briana Gomez

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study explores the implementation and impact of differentiated guided reading instruction for MLs in a second-grade classroom. Specifically, it examines how differentiation strategies are applied during guided reading sessions and investigates the role of culturally relevant texts in engaging and supporting ML students’ literacy development. Through a mixed-methods approach combining classroom observation, student artifacts, and interviews, the research highlights best practices for meeting the diverse needs of MLs and underscores the importance of using culturally responsive texts. Additionally, the study analyzes the effect of these instructional approaches on students’ academic progress by comparing Edmentum Winter and Spring …

Effects Of Verbal Tasks On Driving Simulator Performance, Jonathan Cheshire Rann

Theses and Dissertations

We report the results from a driving simulator paradigm we developed to test the effects of simple verbal tasks on simultaneous driving performance. A total of 74 undergraduate students participated in two experiments in which they controlled a car using the steering wheel to track a moving target. The dependent measure, overall deviation from target, was continuously recorded. Experiment 1 (E1) tested tracking performance during slow and fast target speeds under conditions involving either no verbal input or output (Absent), passive listening to spoken prompts via headphones (Listen), or responding to the spoken prompts (Respond). Experiment 2 (E2) was similar …

Stimulation Of The Rostromedial Tegmental Nucleus Induces Long-Lasting Avoidance Behavior, Jacob Ryan Watson

Theses and Dissertations

The role of midbrain dopamine (DA) activity in reward seeking and reinforcement learning is well-documented, contrasting the lesser-understood impact of inhibitory signaling on DAergic activity, especially in the context of aversive learning and avoidance. The rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) is a GABAergic midbrain structure activated by aversive stimuli and exerts inhibitory influence over ventral tegmental area (VTA) DAergic activity in response to aversive consequences. Stimulation of the RMTg decreases the firing rate of VTA DA neurons and direct inhibition of the RMTg – VTA circuit enhances persistent reward seeking despite aversive consequences, a major criterion of substance use disorder (SUD). …

The Impact Of The Flipped Learning Approach On Student Engagement In A High School Chemistry Classroom, Alana Lyn Hicks

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods action research study investigated the impact of the flipped classroom approach on student engagement and attitudes within a science classroom. Data was collected using student-reported responses on the Classroom Engagement Inventory, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, student journal entries, teacher reflective journals, and an observation tracking chart kept by the classroom teacher. Findings revealed that the flipped classroom model significantly increased affective and cognitive engagement among students in a larger class size, as well as for medium-achieving students and girls. These results suggest that while the flipped classroom has the potential to enhance engagement, its effectiveness is influenced …

Clinical Correlates: Using Case-Based Learning In The Physician Assistant Classroom, Pamela Schindler Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Physician Assistant (PA) education is rigorous and comprehensive. In only 27 months, the students must learn medical knowledge and skills for effective patient care. Instruction must be efficient and effective to teach these students how to be safe and functional PAs. Of primary concern is teaching students how to perform like clinicians, which requires critical thinking, self-directed learning, and teamwork.

This convergent, mixed-methods action research explored the impacts of case-based learning (CBL) in the PA classroom. The findings support using CBL to develop clinical reasoning skills, improve comprehension of the material, and develop self-directed learning skills. CBL requires the students …

Lessons In Game Use: Examining Engagement And Content Knowledge With The Use Of Digital Game-Based Learning Lessons In Biology, Rebecca Anne Valencia

Theses and Dissertations

According to both national and local data, students in high school biology classes are disengaged in content learning and do not demonstrate sufficient understanding of the content taught during units focused on the mechanisms of heredity and gene expression. Traditional teaching methods do not hold their interest which leads to disengagement and missed learning opportunities. The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the effect of digital game-based learning lessons on biology 1 students’ engagement and content knowledge application regarding the mechanisms of heredity and gene expression, as well as on the students’ perceptions of their digital game-based learning …

Explainable Process Recommendation Through Multi-Contextual Grounding Of Dynamic Multimodal Process Knowledge Graphs, Revathy Venkataramanan

Theses and Dissertations

Can I eat this food or not? Is this food suitable for diabetes and why? Which AI pipeline is best suited for a given task and dataset? How should an end-to-end pipeline be constructed? These questions differ from factual question-answering tasks. Recipes and AI pipelines are processes consisting of several entities interacting with each other. A recipe consists of ingredients, cooking methods, and their interactions, while an AI pipeline includes datasets, preprocessing techniques, models, hyperparameters, tasks, and results. Each entity must be analyzed individually, and collective inferencing is performed to derive the final decision. This decision-making process, known as compositional …

Margery's Visions: Sight, Emulation, And Medieval Wall Paintings In The Book Of Margery Kempe, Kristin L. Harrell

Theses and Dissertations

This project puts the history, context, and reception of medieval murals in dialog with The Book of Margery Kempe to identify neglected parallels between Margery’s sense of sight and the visual culture around her. Guided by a method of recovery that draws on interdisciplinary approaches to text and image, this dissertation combines digital tools, close reading, and archival accounts to compare how Margery responded to visions of holiness—both in spiritual revelations and in physical imagery—in murals which would have been on display during and in proximity to her travels. While mapping, close reading, and analysis have been applied to Margery …

Analyzing Factors Affecting Retention And Attrition Rates Of Teachers In The Pee Dee Region Of South Carolina, Jessica Allen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to determine the factors and variables that affected the retention and attrition rates of novice and seasoned teachers in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. Utilizing three frameworks, the Self-efficacy theory, the Social Identity theory, and the Multidimensional Theory of Burnout, the researcher conducted a virtual survey of 33 respondents and interviewed seven participants to collect data. Data was thematically coded to discover commonalities amongst the participant responses.

The data revealed administrative influence, teacher working conditions such as autonomy, time, and control, and workload were the most frequent elements of …

Conjuring Realities: Southern Supernaturalism And Race From The Antebellum Era To The Early Twentieth Century, Dylan T. Kobus

Theses and Dissertations

Conjure practices in the nineteenth-century American South, such as “Hoodoo” or “Voodoo,” are commonly portrayed as primarily “black” beliefs or entrenched in “Africanistic” cultures. For the enslaved, their black spiritual systems, including conjure, were a powerful tool of resistance against the white enslaver. Black conjure practitioners established themselves as an affordable and pervasive medical alternative to often ineffective or harmful professional medicines for black and white Southerners, regardless of class. In this way, conjure challenged the authority of racial capitalism and destabilized the perceived moral and intellectual superiority of whiteness. Moreover, by examining legal documents, newspapers, fictional literature, and oral …

Reassessing Readiness: Physical Performance Trajectories And Future Physical Military Readiness, Giovanna Leone

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three studies integrating frequentist and machine learning techniques to examine physical fitness trajectories and future physical military readiness. Study 1 consists of a cross-sectional examination of Physical Fitness Test (PFT) scores from four cohorts of first-year Cadets at a Senior Military College from 2019 to 2022. Study 2 consists of a longitudinal examination of PFT performance from one cohort of Cadets across a baseline test and three years of training at a Senior Military College. Study 3 examines predictive machine learning and growth curve modeling methods to project future physical military readiness based on motor competence …

Conceptions Of Epic Heroism In Thomas May’S Continutation, Michael Blake Hoehn

Theses and Dissertations

Thomas May’s A Continuation of the Subiect of Lucan's Historicall Poem till the Death of Iulius Cæser, continues Lucan’s creative vision of critiquing heroism. Despite his attempt at maintaining an indifferent world, May’s Continuation implicitly favors the heroism of the Pompeians.

Both Caesar and the Pompeians base their heroic conceptions on ideals found in Greek and Roman marital and national heroism. Caesar and his enemies believe that his victories in battle result from Fortune’s protection and approval, allowing Caesar to justify the ideals of traditional heroism. However, Fortune in the Continuation acts as an independent force, making these misinterpretations …

The Tur Nout Effect: Challenging The Median Voter Theorem, George Thomas Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

The classical Median Voter Theorem (MVT) predicts that, in a two-party system with majority rule, candidates will converge toward the ideological center to capture the median voter. This logic, grounded in spatial models of political competition, assumes full voter participation and fails to account for the growing ideological polarization in modern democracies. This thesis reevaluates the MVT by incorporating probabilistic turnout into a utility-based model of voter behavior. It theorizes that turnout is shaped not only by ideological proximity but also by expressive motivations, including both strong affinity and strong aversion to candidates. A novel measure of turnout utility is …

Between Florida And The World: Young People And The Politics Of Citizenship, Jessica Flach

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critically examines how American high school students experience and make sense of global citizenship within the context of a commercial educational tour. Drawing on a case study of students from a Title I public high school in Florida, the research interrogates the narratives of civic transformation promoted by educational travel companies and explores how these narratives intersect with students’ lived realities. Combining ethnographic methods, interviews, and critical discourse analysis, the study reveals that global citizenship is not meaningfully realized through such travel experiences; rather, it is fragmented, depoliticized, and often disconnected from the civic education students receive in …

Addressing Key Challenges In Mhz Power Converters, Aqarib Hussain

Theses and Dissertations

Power electronics are essential in applications such as aerospace, electric vehicles, and electric ships where compact, efficient, and high power-density converters are increasingly demanded. This push toward miniaturization has led to converter designs operating at switching frequencies in the megahertz (MHz) range. Higher-frequency operation enables significant reductions in passive component sizes—particularly transformers and inductors—thereby facilitating dense packaging. However, these benefits come with new challenges, including increased thermal stress, complex semiconductor behavior, higher-frequency magnetic design constraints, and elevated electromagnetic interference (EMI).

This research addresses several key challenges in MHz converter design. The first part involves the development of a 1-MHz, 1-kW …