Digital Commons Network^™

Barriers To Baseball: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Factors That Impact Contract Value In Major League Baseball, Ryan A. Crowl

Senior Theses

The landscape of Major League Baseball’s free agency is an evolving one with numerous factors impacting negotiated contracts as player salaries escalate and teams adopt new strategies of luring players to their organizations. This study delves into the intricate dynamics of this free agent market, exploring the factors that influence contract values and negotiating power. Through empirical analysis and mathematical regressions, we explore the enduring significance of multiple factors on contract value, encompassing demographic indicators as well as on-field performance. Subsequently, we propose our own explanations of any observed inequities or significance and provide rational approaches for players and their …

A Scoping Review On Racial Disparities In South Carolina’S Opioid Epidemic, Jake D'Alto

Senior Theses

This thesis examines racial disparities in opioid-related outcomes within South Carolina, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the opioid epidemic on minority communities. Using a comprehensive literature review methodology, the study analyzes the intersection of race, socioeconomic status, and systemic factors that contribute to heightened risks of opioid misuse and overdose among African American populations. The paper identifies key factors such as poverty, incarceration rates, and limited access to healthcare that exacerbate the opioid crisis in these communities. Additionally, it evaluates the effectiveness of current public health responses and legislative measures in addressing these disparities. The research proposes several actionable interventions, …

From Cough To Crip: The Development Of Codeine From A Purely Medical Substance Into A Popular Recreational Drug, Rhett C. Vaughn

Senior Theses

The research that was conducted aimed to elicit the influence that pop culture has on recreational drug consumption. Specifically, the usage of the drug codeine has become very popular in social media among many influencers. The research focuses on the prevalence of this drug across several media platforms, alongside the growing rate of consumption globally. Research was conducted primarily through combining various databases at various organizations and this study aims to compile the data into one coherent paper regarding codeine in pop culture. While, it cannot be solely attributed to one specific outlet or influence, this study found that alongside …

The Health Effects Of Chocolate: A Literature Review, Erika A. Pierce

Senior Theses

Chocolate has been a part of the human diet for centuries, but while it was once considered a healthy food, it is now seen as a dessert and unhealthy treat. It is known that chocolate contains polyphenols, flavonoids, and minerals that can affect body functioning. To determine the extent to which chocolate plays a role in health, a literature review was performed by searching the PubMed, CINAHL, and Web of Science databases for peer-reviewed articles published between 2004 and 2024. Of the 14 included studies, the health effects of chocolate fell into three overarching categories: neurological effects, including mental health, …

Decoding Implant-Related Sickness: Unraveling The Complexities Of Breast Implant Illness, Madison M. Stewart

Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the phenomenon of breast implant illness (BII), examining its potential correlation with individual factors such as obesity and poor lifestyle habits. BII, characterized by nonspecific symptoms, is often self-diagnosed by patients influenced by social media and internet sources, leading to requests for implant removal. Conducting a comprehensive meta-analysis, the study scrutinizes existing literature to evaluate the association between BII, obesity, and lifestyle choices. Employing inclusion criteria, peer-reviewed publications are analyzed through systematic review methodology to offer insights into the interplay between BII and adiposity, exploring inflammatory mechanisms and patient behaviors like exercise and smoking. The research aims …

"Fueling For A Healthy Life:" A Cooking Class For Adolescent And Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors, Hope Dominique

Senior Theses

Following cancer treatment, childhood cancer survivors (CCS) are at an increased risk of developing chronic diseases and face an increased risk of health-related death during adulthood. Recent literature demonstrates that modifying lifestyle factors such as nutrition can reduce the risk of late mortality in survivors, suggesting that interventions promoting a healthy lifestyle may improve quality and quantity of life for CCS. However, many adolescent and young adult (AYA) CCS do not adhere to national dietary guidelines and face both real and perceived barriers to adopting healthier eating habits while in a critical period for establishing behaviors that contribute to lifelong …

A Historical Analysis Of Health Institutions, Professionals, And Advocates In The Civil Rights Movement In Columbia, South Carolina, Anusha Ghosh

Senior Theses

From 1900 to 1970, widespread racism severely restricted healthcare access for Black citizens in the South, leading them to establish and staff alternative healthcare institutions to support their community.

Such institutions faced debilitating issues such as chronic financial shortages and patient overflow. Despite these problems, oral histories, media, and primary written sources show that Black healthcare workers in alternative healthcare institutions demonstrated a greater ability to meet the health needs of Black patients due to cultural understanding and external community involvement.

Dr. Matilda Evans was an African-American woman physician who became a leader in medicine, public health, and education in …

Facing Two Fronts: Asian Americans Grappling With Covid-19 And Xenophobic Tensions, Matthew Soos

Senior Theses

This thesis examines the impact of COVID-19-induced discrimination against Asian Americans (AsAms) and its effects on the mental health of college-aged individuals within this demographic. The study specifically targets East and Southeast Asians due to their heightened connection with the pandemic. Data was gathered via a survey disseminated among undergraduate AsAm students at the University of South Carolina. The survey sought information on the occurrence and forms of discrimination encountered pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, alongside the mental health condition and coping mechanisms of the respondents. Moreover, participants were prompted to assess the efficacy of suggested approaches in addressing discrimination. …

Focus Group And Survey Responses To Postural Feedback During Creative Movement Exploration, Mary C. Matthews

Senior Theses

John H. Riskind’s “appropriateness hypothesis” states that posture, positions, and gestures can be emotionally self-regulating if an individual holds a posture that is appropriate for its context. A litany of studies on power posing suggests expansive postures could increase Feelings of Power. One meta-analytic review demonstrates the “robust” significance for evidence of “power feelings, emotion, or self-esteem” due to postural feedback while cautioning researchers on the empirical invalidity of evidence for behavioral and physiological variables. A qualitative description of individuals’ experiences as they change posture, gesture, and position would direct future research on postural feedback. The current project qualitatively examines …

The Role Of Sport For Adolescents: The Effect Of Sport Participation As A Unique Form Of Physical Activity On Mental Health And Overall Subjective Well-Being During Adolescence, Caleb M. Rogers

Senior Theses

Well-being is an extremely multifaceted domain, as there are numerous factors that contribute to one’s way of life. Objective well-being focuses primarily on material factors such as access to food, housing, and a steady household income. Although these factors play a large role, it is important to analyze well-being from the perspective of the individual. Subjective well-being focuses on how one perceives one's own well-being. Physical activity has been well established as one factor associated with improvements within this domain for adolescents. This project investigates the role of one specific form of physical activity during adolescence: sport. The general assumption …

Covid-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Among People Living With And Without Hiv In South Carolina, Usa: Protocol Of A Population-Based Cohort Study, Xueying Yang, Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Bankole Olatosi, Sharon Weissman, Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Introduction Despite the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing severe COVID-19 outcomes, a small percentage of fully vaccinated persons will develop symptomatic or asymptomatic infections with SARSCoV-2, which is referred to as ‘breakthrough COVID-19’. People living with HIV (PLWH) appear to have an elevated risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes, yet the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine in this population remains unclear due to the limited research efforts in this population in the real world. This study aims to characterise and compare the breakthrough COVID-19 (eg, prevalence and disease severity) between PLWH and non-PLWH and then examine whether HIV markers play …

Comparison Of Raw Accelerometry Data From Actigraph, Apple Watch, Garmin, And Fitbit Using A Mechanical Shaker Table, James W. White Iii, Olivia L. Finnegan, Nick Tindall, Srihari Nelakuditi, David E. Brown Iii, Russell R. Pate Ph.D., Gregory J. Welk, Massimiliano De Zambotti, Rahul Ghosal, Yuan Wang, Sarah Burkart, Elizabeth L. Adams, Mvs Chandrashekhar, Bridget Armstrong, Michael W. Beets, Robert Weaver Med, Phd

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the raw accelerometry output from research-grade and consumer wearable devices compared to accelerations produced by a mechanical shaker table. Raw accelerometry data from a total of 40 devices (i.e., n = 10 ActiGraph wGT3X-BT, n = 10 Apple Watch Series 7, n = 10 Garmin Vivoactive 4S, and n = 10 Fitbit Sense) were compared to reference accelerations produced by an orbital shaker table at speeds ranging from 0.6 Hz (4.4 milligravity-mg) to 3.2 Hz (124.7mg). Two-way random effects absolute intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) tested inter-device reliability. …

Garnet & Black Spring 2024, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

Garnet & Black Magazine

No abstract provided.

Now It’S Your Turn!: Eye Blink Rate In A Jenga Task Modulated By Interaction Of Task Wait Times, Effortful Control, And Internalizing Behaviors, Kelley E. Gunther

Faculty Publications

Dopamine is a versatile neurotransmitter with implications in many domains, including anxiety and effortful control. Where high levels of effortful control are often regarded as adaptive, other work suggests that high levels of effortful control may be a risk factor for anxiety. Dopamine signaling may be key in understanding these relations. Eye blink rate is a non-invasive proxy metric of midbrain dopamine activity. However, much work with eye blink rate has been constrained to screen-based tasks which lack in ecological validity. We tested whether changes in eye blink rate during a naturalistic effortful control task differ as a function of …

Dissociating Reading And Auditory Comprehension In Persons With Aphasia, Rachel M. Harrington, Sigfus Kristinsson, Janina Wilmskoetter, Natalie Busby, Dirk Den Ouden, Chris Rorden, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D., Leonardo Bonilha

Faculty Publications

Language comprehension is often affected in individuals with post-stroke aphasia. However, deficits in auditory comprehension are not fully correlated with deficits in reading comprehension and the mechanisms underlying this dissociation remain unclear. This distinction is important for understanding language mechanisms, predicting long-term impairments and future development of treatment interventions. Using comprehensive auditory and reading measures from a large cohort of individuals with aphasia, we evaluated the relationship between aphasia type and reading comprehension impairments, the relationship between auditory versus reading comprehension deficits and the crucial neuroanatomy supporting the dissociation between post-stroke reading and auditory deficits. Scores from the Western Aphasia …

Health Provider Experiences In Supporting Social Connectedness Between Families And Older Adults Living In Long-Term Care Homes, Anna Garnett, Hannah Pollock, Kristin Prentice, Natalie Floriancic, Lorie Donelle Phd, Rn, Fcan, Carri Hand, Abe Oudshoorn, Yolanda Babenko-Mould, Cheryl Forchuk

Publications

INTRODUCTION: Many people, often older adults, living in long-term care homes (OA-LTCH) became socially isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic due to variable restrictions on in-person visits and challenges associated with using technology for social connectivity. Health providers were key to supporting these OA by providing additional care and facilitating their connections with family using technology such as smartphones and iPads. It is important to learn from these experiences to move forwards from the COVID-19 pandemic with evidence-informed strategies that will better position health providers to foster social engagement for OA-LTCH across a range of contextual situations. OBJECTIVE: This exploratory qualitative …

Investigating Consumer Purchase Intention Of Athleisure Products: A Study Of Lululemon’S Sns Ad, Julia Prigl, Jiyeon Kim Ph.D., Karen Edwards J.D.

Faculty Publications

This study investigated how SNS advertising by Lululemon affected consumer purchase intention from the brand. The influence of specific ad traits such as informativeness, creativity, and emotional appeal, on attitude towards the advertisement, the influence of attitude towards the advertisement on willingness to engage with the brand and the influence of willingness to engage with the brand on purchase intention. A moderating effect of a sedentary or active lifestyle is tested. Also, the influence of perceived behavior of others on subjective norm, and the influence of subjective norm on willingness to engage with the brand were investigated. This study contributes …

Balancing Best Practice And Reality In Behavioral Intervention Development: A Survey Of Principal Investigators Funded By The National Institutes Of Health, Lauren Von Klinggraeff, Sarah Burkart, Christopher D. Pfledderer, Alexander Mclain, Bridget Armstrong Ph.D., Robert Glenn Weaver Med, Phd, Michael Beets Med, Mph, Phd

Faculty Publications

Preliminary studies play a prominent role in the development of large-scale behavioral interventions. Though recommendations exist to guide the execution and interpretation of preliminary studies, these assume optimal scenarios which may clash with realities faced by researchers. The purpose of this study was to explore how principal investigators (PIs) balance expectations when conducting preliminary studies. We surveyed PIs funded by the National Institutes of Health to conduct preliminary behavioral interventions between 2000 and 2020. Four hundred thirty-one PIs (19% response rate) completed the survey (November 2021 to January 2022, 72% female, mean 21 years post-terminal degree). Most PIs were aware …

Whole-Of-School Physical Activity Implementation In The Context Of The Dubai Fitness Challenge, Chris Mcmahon, Collin A. Webster, Robert Weaver, Christophe El Haber, Gönül Tekkurşun Demir, Zainab Mohamed Ismail, Syeda Zoha Fatima Naqvi, Mehnaz Ghani, Şevval Kepenek, Manel Kherraf, Thrisha Krishnakumar, Pranati Prakash, Yeowon Seo

Faculty Publications

Introduction

Physical activity (PA) promotion among school-aged youth is a global health priority. Recommendations for such promotion include implementing whole-of-school approaches that maximize resources across the school environment. This study examined schools’ participation in an annual, government-led, and emirate-wide initiative in Dubai, called the Dubai Fitness Challenge, in which the goal is to accrue 30 minutes of PA every day for 30 days (as such, the initiative is colloquially referred to as “Dubai 30x30”).

Methods

A mixed-methods design was employed for this study. Three schools were recruited using convenience sampling. Participants were 18 physical education teachers, 20 classroom teachers, 2 …

The Daily Gamecock: March 2024, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

March

No abstract provided.

Sc Teacher Working Conditions Survey Participation For Pilot Administration, Angela Starrett, Svetlana Dmitrieva

Infographics

More than 23,000 teachers have now participated in the SC Teacher Working Conditions Survey pilot administration. This high level of engagement provides comprehensive insights into teachers’ perceptions of working conditions throughout South Carolina. Read the info-brief for a state-level glimpse into district and teacher participation, plus a look into the background of the survey.

Now It’S Your Turn!: Eye Blink Rate In A Jenga Task Modulated By Interaction Of Task Wait Times, Effortful Control, And Internalizing Behaviors, Kelley E. Gunther, Xiaoxue Fu Ph.D., Leigha A. Macneill, Morgan Jones, Briana Ermanni, Koraly Pérez-Edgar

Faculty Publications

Dopamine is a versatile neurotransmitter with implications in many domains, including anxiety and effortful control. Where high levels of effortful control are often regarded as adaptive, other work suggests that high levels of effortful control may be a risk factor for anxiety. Dopamine signaling may be key in understanding these relations. Eye blink rate is a non-invasive proxy metric of midbrain dopamine activity. However, much work with eye blink rate has been constrained to screen-based tasks which lack in ecological validity. We tested whether changes in eye blink rate during a naturalistic effortful control task differ as a function of …

University Libraries Impact Report 2023, Leslie Haynsworth, Kristine Hontz

University Libraries Policies and Reports

A report on notable activities in University of South Carolina Libraries in 2023.

Exploring Barriers To Effective Covid-19 Risk Mitigation, Recovery, And Chronic Disease Self-Management: A Qualitative Multilevel Perspective, Gayenell S. Magwood Phd, Rn, Faha, Faan, Charles Ellis Jr, Chanita Hughes Halbert, Ebony Allen Toussaint, Jewel Scott, Lynne S. Nemeth

Publications

Introduction: Many research activities have focused on SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent COVID-19 respiratory illness during the pandemic. However, significant racial inequities emerged months after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The similarity between racial/ ethnic disparities in COVID-19 and those for other diseases raised awareness about the context for risk exposure and healthcare access. The purpose of this study is to examine social and structural determinants of health among COVID-19 survivors, carepartners, and the perspectives of healthcare stakeholders who experienced disruption during the early pandemic.
Material and methods: A purposive sample of interviews (n=9) and focus groups (n=10) were used to collect …

Advocating For Adolescent Sexual Minorities, Madeline Hawkins

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

Sexual minority (gay, lesbian, and bisexual) adolescents experience bullying and mental health issues at higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts. It is important that teachers find ways to protect, support, and advocate for these students to prevent them from struggling academically and socially. Through the use of inclusive curricula, gay-straight alliances, and informal mentoring, educators can foster an environment of inclusion and respect for sexual minority students.

Achieving Equity In Child And Adolescent Mental Health By Addressing Racism Through Prevention Science, Nada M. Goodrum, Daniel K. Cooper, Sarah Edmunds, Guillermo M. Wippold, Jessica Bradshaw, Julie K. Nguyen, Norweeta Milburn, Funlola Are

Faculty Publications

Prevention science is a multidisciplinary field dedicated to promoting public health and reducing early risk factors that lead to negative health outcomes. It has been used to successfully improve child and family mental health and well-being, including for families affected by adversity. Despite advances in prevention efforts, major public health inequities remain for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) children and families, in part because of equity-implicit “one-size-fits-all” approaches that do not directly address racism which in part underlies the very health concerns these efforts aim to prevent. Structural racism not only introduces additional risk for negative health …

Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Adolescents: How To Support Them In Life And Education, Emma Chambers

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

Research has shown that a socioeconomic divide is occurring and only getting larger in classrooms, and it is especially affecting the young adolescent age group. While there are many different problems that these students must face in their personal and public lives, the education system should be doing all it can to prevent this divide from growing larger with different strategies and prevention tools. This article will promote the use of several classroom management strategies, suggestions, and private organizations that offer help to make classrooms a more welcome place for all students no matter their home life.

Front Matter

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

No abstract provided.

And Then The Black Birthed Me: Celebrating Black Girlhood In Middle Level Ela Classrooms Through Afrofuturism, Dywanna Smith, Kenesha Johnson, Kiana Eaddy

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

The manuscript delves into the dynamic interplay between Afrofuturism and young adult literature and Middle Level English pedagogical inspiration to offer fresh perspectives on intersectionality, agency, and empowerment among marginalized youth. The authors explore how Afrofuturistic young adult literature authors are employing characters who navigate a multitude of identities, challenging traditional power dynamics, and dismantling oppressive structures. Through its incorporation of technological innovation, speculative visions, and the reclaiming of historical narratives, Afrofuturistic young adult literature creates new paradigms of empowerment and self-realization for all students, but especially Black girls. Works such as Kalynn Bayron’s The Poison Heart (2021), Namina Fornas’ …

An Argument For Interdisciplinary Learning In Middle School, Isaiah Gillian

South Carolina Association for Middle Level Education Journal

Interdisciplinary education is a pedagogical approach that is beneficial for adolescent learners. Using this approach, students can integrate knowledge from one subject into another and form a holistic understanding of the real world we live in.