Digital Commons Network^™

Cancer Screening For Patients With Intellectual Disability: Exploring Parent And Caregiver Perspectives, Jennifer Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Intellectual disability (ID) is defined as a combination of deficits in cognitive and adaptive function, both of which must be present early in life. Adults with ID frequently have unique healthcare needs; however, they also require care that is routine for all adults. This includes cancer screening. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether or not adults with ID are undergoing cancer screening, understand the barriers they have faced in obtaining screening, and collect recommendations from parents and caregivers on ways to improve access to and facilitate screening for this population. We surveyed parents and caregivers of adults …

Action Research On Instructional Scaffolding In Information Literacy Instruction For Community College Students, Huyen Maluck

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to evaluate the effect of instructional scaffolding on information literacy skills of college students in an English Composition I (ENG 101) course at Urban Community College in the Southeast. Information literacy is defined as a set of skills to recognize an information need as well as locate, evaluate, and effectively use information (American Library Association, 2021). Community college students may have insufficiencies in their information literacy skills due to lack prior information literacy experience in academic libraries or completing research projects (Head, 2013; Hincliffe et al., 2018). I developed an intervention that involved …

From North To South: North Carolina's Black Union Veterans In The South Carolina Lowcountry, Elizabeth L. Laney

Theses and Dissertations

For the almost two thousand black Union veterans living in South Carolina following the end of the Civil War, the formation of robust social networks, particularly those composed of fellow veterans, would be the key to sustaining themselves and public memory of their service. This was especially true for the veterans of the 35^th US Colored Troops (USCT), formerly the 1^st North Carolina Colored Volunteers, who settled in smaller rural communities throughout the South Carolina Lowcountry. Establishing social networks through marriage, forming local veteran support systems and initiating local celebrations were just some of the ways that out-of-state …

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 …

Mental Trauma, Colonial Mimicry, And Internalized Racism In Tsitsi Dangarembga's The Book Of Not, Lily Kay Lynn Cook

Theses and Dissertations

Tsitsi Dangarembga’s second novel in her Nervous Conditions trilogy, The Book of Not (2006) emphasizes the disabling nature of colonial domination and terror through pain and violence inflicted on the body and the mind. Through the use of Frantz Fanon’s colonial and post-colonial theory and Homi Bhabha’s concept of colonial mimicry the critical nature of Tambudzai—the main protagonist—position in the novel becomes apparent. Just as the title suggests, the novel becomes a book of negation and unbecoming as Tambudzai tries to find her place as a woman in Southern Rhodesia while attending a European colonial institution while war rages just …

Associations Between Infant Vagal Regulation, Early Social Communication, And Socidemographic Risk, Tessa Djiko

Theses and Dissertations

Respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activation, has been linked to socioemotional and language development (Porges, 2007; Thayer & Lane, 2000). Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show lower RSA (Patriquin et al., 2011) while both children with ASD and children from lower SES backgrounds show differences in early social-communication development (Jones-Mason et al., 2018). However, little is known about interactions between sociodemographic risk and physiological regulation within the context of ASD and social-communication development. The present study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between RSA (as indexed by RSA suppression and resting-state RSA), …

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 = …

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 …

The Gendered Patterns Of International Migration Systems: The Role Of Need For Care, Chang-Yi Lin

Theses and Dissertations

The demand for feminized jobs in developed countries—e.g., care, domestic, and entertainment work—has provided women with an opportunity to work abroad independently. However, while numerous studies have discussed gendered opportunities and barriers to women’s migration, few studies have examined these correlates globally. According to traditional gender norms, one such potential barrier is women’s childcare responsibilities at home and, more specifically, the number of children who need to be cared for. Here it is argued that, contrary to men, the higher the number of children who need to be cared for in a given country, the more difficult it would be …

Statistical Inference Based On Elliptically Symmetric Distributions For Directional Data, Zehao Yu

Theses and Dissertations

Directional data arise in many scientific fields such as meteorology, oceanography, geology, zoology, and biomechanics. Geometrically, directional data lie in a spherical space. Although not in a spherical space, compositional data, such as microbiome data, can be mapped from a simplex to a spherical space via the component-wise square-root transformation. Other examples where compositional data emerge as a subject of interest include compositions of minerals in rocks, compositions of chemical mixtures, investment portfolios, and demographic composition of a population. This dissertation aims to develop inference procedures for analyzing directional data in general initially, with later focus shifted to the transformed …

Placebos, Rhetoric, And The Power Of Expectation, Jennifer M. Reeher

Theses and Dissertations

Placebos, Rhetoric, and the Power of Expectation examines the relationship between persuasion and health to determine what interventions rhetoric could make in the interdisciplinary field of placebo studies. This exploration of the relationship between rhetoric and placebo responses relies on non-anthropocentric definitions and theories of rhetoric as well as a multifaceted archive that includes patient narratives, clinical intake forms, and peer-reviewed scientific studies of condition-specific placebo responses. The impact of this investigation spans the practical and the theoretical. First, rhetorical study highlights the importance of a patient’s perception of care in patient recovery. To this end, rhetoric offers audience-focused methods …

Molecular And Hybrid Catalysts For Selective Hydrodeoxygenation Of Lignin Model Compounds, Jacob G. Tillou

Theses and Dissertations

Lignin is a highly aromatic, branched polymer and could be utilized as a renewable source of liquid fuel. The advent of “lignin-first” depolymerization processes have allowed for the high-yield isolation of oxygenated aromatic monomers from lignin. These oxygenated aromatic compounds are lower in energy and stability than their deoxygenated counterparts. Selective deoxygenation of these compounds would result in stable, higher value liquid fuels. Using molecular catalysts, selective deoxygenation, or hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), of lignin-derived compounds in the presence of hydrogen is possible.

Immobilization of these molecular catalysts on metal oxide surfaces eliminates the possibility of bimolecular decomposition and allows for easier …

The Impact Of Mathematical Justifications On Conceptual Understanding, Jessica Raley

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematical justifications offer an approach to which students deepen and extend their mathematical thinking. This process has the potential to enhance students’ conceptual understanding. Mathematical practices and process standards ask students to use critical thinking skills to justify their reasoning, but this is usually seen as proofs in high school geometry. This convergent mixed method research study aimed to increase students' use of writing mathematical justifications and investigate the influence of this practice on mathematical and conceptual understanding. Eleven eighth-grade students participated in the study conducted in the Midwest United States. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, students’ artifacts of …

Enslaved Women: Reproductive Choices And Medicine, Adedoyin Adekunle

Theses and Dissertations

Enslavement in the American South persisted as a form of subjugation that endured into the nineteenth century. The origins of slavery stemmed from enslavers’ aspirations for dominance. This compelled displacement involved the removal of Africans from their native lands and their subsequent transport as chattels to America. Slavery gave rise to paternalism, an attempt to justify exploitation to resolve the fundamental contradiction inherent in slavery. Paternalism gave rise to the false idea of ultimate submission, which historians have agreed that most enslavers never attained because of slave resistance. However, the study of slave resistance had been primarily focused on enslaved …

The Northern View Of The Southern Shore: Experience, Reconciliation, And Commemoration In Postbellum Charleston, South Carolina, Michael Edward Scott Emett

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the experiences and commemorative practices of nearly 200 northern passengers in Charleston, South Carolina, as they attended the flag reraising ceremony at Fort Sumter on April 14, 1865, and then organized the Sumter Club to celebrate that event annually. While some has been written about postwar Charleston during the first half of 1865, and a little more has been published covering this flag ceremony, the Northern view and their experiences with each have not been investigated, nor has anyone written an account of this club. This dissertation utilizes the theory and methodology of the history of experience, …

Transcending The Family-Teacher Partnership: Utilizing Teaching Methods And Digital Platforms Proven Effective During The Pandemic, Amanda Katherine Mcclain

Theses and Dissertations

The unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic led teachers to innovatively shift their teaching methods. These pioneering practices inspired this study’s Elevated Family-Teacher Partnership intervention to provide equitable guidance and communication for all families. This dissertation, in practice, measured the effects the intervention created in a first-grade classroom setting in Hanahan, South Carolina. A mixed-methods research design analyzed the intervention's effects on the family-teacher relationship and each child’s academic achievement. The data indicated increased parental efficacy, engagement, and academic growth during the 12-week intervention for all families participating.

Nutrition And Mental Health Related Factors Across Historically Black College And University Students, Nancy Anai Uriegas

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of food insecurity across college campus in the United States has been widely explored, with the primary focus placed on large, 4-year, primarily White institutions. Less is known about the prevalence of food insecurity and the impact it may have on health behaviors among minority serving institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Young adults attending college, and more specifically student-athletes (SAs), are typically in a new place, facing new stressors and high rates of food insecurity, which in turn may play a critical role in their current health status as it pertains to meeting their energy …

A Modified Flipped Classroom: Action Research Using An In-Class Flip To Measure Student Achievement And Perceptions Within A High School Multimedia Course, Jamie Mercer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to implement and evaluate the impact of a modified flipped classroom approach on students’ ability to use Adobe Premiere Pro in a Multimedia course at Jefferson High School. The current pedagogical model for teaching the video editing software is not conducive to student achievement and students need additional instruction after in-class demonstrations. A major issue in teaching software programs using in-class demonstrations is that when students do not understand the applications of the program, the teacher has to stop demonstrations and walk around the classroom to help struggling students while other students …

Wellness Interventions For College Students With Intellectual Or Developmental Disability: A Multi-Manuscript Dissertation, Madeline Bree Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

This multi-manuscript dissertation comprises two interconnected articles that collectively explore the experiences of college students with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) engaging in wellness interventions within inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) settings in the southeastern region of the United States. Wellness interventions within both manuscripts adhere to procedures outlined by the Wellness Counseling Intervention (WCI; Barrio Minton et al., n.d.) and group adaptation (WCI-G; Ohrt & Castle, n.d.). Manuscript 1 (Chapter 3) involves a mixed-method approach to understand the experiences six student participants, group members, engaging in the WCI-G across a total of 10-weeks. Manuscript 2 (Chapter 4) adheres to consensual …

New Techniques For Studying Ocean Eddy Dynamics In The Arabian Sea And The Gulf Of Mexico, Paul Andrew Ernst

Theses and Dissertations

Coherent vortices known as eddies are ubiquitous throughout the world’s oceans and are responsible for modulating regional climates via the transfer of heat, momentum, and salt. Two regions where eddies are particularly prominent are the Arabian Sea (AS) and the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). This dissertation advances the study of eddies in these regions by developing and employing new techniques in conjunction with remotely sensed data and high-resolution ocean models. These models focus particularly on lesser-studied eddy components at the subsurface and the submesoscale (below 25 km in radius).

The first component of this dissertation focuses on the Lakshadweep High …

Impacts Of Teacher-Led Staff Meetings On School Climate, Culture, And Teacher Voice, Alison Ely

Theses and Dissertations

A staff development team composed of four teacher leaders was chosen at a public high school to plan and facilitate two staff meetings. The purpose of this study is to determine how the use of a staff development team influences teacher voice within the school, the overall direction of staff meetings, and the culture and climate of the school. 21 teacher participants completed surveys that measured their perceptions of school climate, school culture, and teacher voice. Additionally, these teacher participants also completed post staff meeting surveys that measured their perceptions of the productivity/ effectiveness of four staff meetings. As a …

Beyond The Plastic Facade: Unveiling The Multifaceted Discourse And Impact Of Barbie In Film, Sarah Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents an exploration into the multifaceted dimensions of public discourse surrounding Barbie, the film released in 2023 directed by Greta Gerwig, by leveraging advanced natural language processing techniques. Employing BERTopic for topic modeling, I analyzed conversations embedded in YouTube comments from Warner Bros.'s own promotional content as well as third-party YouTube content pre- and post- the film’s release to unearth the themes and sentiments associated with the iconic character. Our primary objective was to look beyond the stereotypical perception of Barbie as a two-dimensional figure and shed light on the diverse and complex discussions surrounding her cinematic representation. …

Preimplantation Genetic Testing For Sickle Cell Disease; Exploring The Effect Health Disparities Have On Parental Awareness And Interest, Justine Frances Manigault

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of disorders of the hemoglobin resulting in episodes of chronic pain, pulmonary hypertension, progressive multiorgan damage, risk for stroke, and increased mortality. It is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in the HBB gene and 1 in 12 African Americans, 1 in 100 Hispanic individuals, and 1 in 30-50 Mediterranean people are reported to be carriers of the disease and have sickle cell trait (SCT). SCD is typically diagnosed through newborn screening; however, when prospective parents are aware of their carrier status, they can conceive via in vitro fertilization (IVF) and have genetic testing …

Perception Of Alzheimer’S Actionability Among End Users Of Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests, Emily Mason

Theses and Dissertations

The APOE ε4 allele is the best-known genetic risk factor for developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Although new evidence is emerging, the extent to which lifestyle improvements can reduce Alzheimer’s risk needs further investigation. Research suggests that individuals with a higher genetic risk may be more likely to engage in risk-reducing health behavior changes following results disclosure. This study aimed to better understand these findings by assessing the health behavior and perceptions of Alzheimer’s actionability among consumers of DTC genetic tests. Our study revealed that individuals with 2 copies of the APOE ε4 allele were less likely to make lifestyle modifications …

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 …

Becoming Musical: Towards A Typology Of Non-Musical Sounds In Recorded Popular Music, Jacob David Mccooey

Theses and Dissertations

There are many instances in popular music in which traditionally non-musical sounds are used musically. There is currently no research on the types and functions of non-musical sounds used musically (NMSUMs). I have collected and organized a collection of example tracks that contain these NMSUMs and analyzed their functions to determine a typology of these sounds. The analysis of the NMSUMs focused on intertextuality, intratextuality, form, texture, and how the sounds relate to traditional, musical sampling. Throughout the course of the analysis, several trends were distinguished amongst the many tracks gathered, and these trends form the basis of the typology.

South Carolina Administrator Workforce Profile For 2022–23, Brian Cartiff, Svetlana Dmitrieva, Angela Starrett

Reports

Each year, SC TEACHER publishes different workforce profiles, sharing details and demographics around South Carolina educators for a better understanding of our public school workforce. Among these publications, this report is the first to examine the state’s school administrator workforce.

The analysis in this report uses statewide data from 2022–23, as well as available data from published research, to compare South Carolina’s administrator workforce with the overall national administrator workforce and that of other states. This report also provides a longitudinal view of state trends by comparing data across three academic years from 2020–21 to 2022–23. State data were collected …

Equity-Informed Social Media Covid-19 Risk Communication Strategies: A Scoping Review, Nedra Peter, Lorie Donelle Phd, Rn, Fcan, Catherine George, Anita Kothari

Publications

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating worldwide impact but most prominent was its effect on marginalised, underserved and equity-deserving populations. Social media arose as an important platform from which health organisations could rapidly disseminate information to equity-deserving populations about COVID-19 risks and events, provide instructions on how to mitigate those risks, motivate compliance with health directives, address false information, provide the opportunity for engagement and immediate feedback. The objective of this scoping review was to synthesise the academic and grey literature on equity-informed social media risk communication strategies developed during the pandemic. DESIGN: The review followed the Arksey and …

Patient-Reported Outcomes From The Phase Iii Himalaya Study Of Tremelimumab Plus Durvalumab In Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Bruno Sangro, Peter R. Galle, Robin Kate Kelley, Chaiyut Charoentum, Enrico N. De Toni, Yurii Ostapenko, Jeong Heo, Ann-Lii Cheng, Andrea Wilson Woods, Charu Gupta, Jayne Abraham, Carrie L. Mccoy Phd, Rn, Anp-Bc, Nikunj Patel, Alejandra Negro, Arndt Vogel, Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa

Publications

PURPOSE:

In the phase III HIMALAYA study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03298451) in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), the Single Tremelimumab Regular Interval Durvalumab (STRIDE) regimen significantly improved overall survival versus sorafenib, and durvalumab monotherapy was noninferior to sorafenib. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), a secondary outcome from HIMALAYA, are reported here.

METHODS:

Participants were randomly assigned to receive STRIDE, durvalumab, or sorafenib. PROs were assessed (preplanned secondary outcome) using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer 30-item Quality of Life Questionnaire and the 18-item HCC module. Time to deterioration (TTD), change from baseline and improvement rate in global health status/quality of life …

Healthcare Assistance Challenges-Driven Neurosymbolic Ai, Kaushik Roy

Publications

Although Artificial Intelligence technology has proven effective in providing healthcare assistance by analyzing health data, it still falls short in supporting decision-making. This deficiency largely stems from the predominance of opaque neural networks, particularly in mental health care AI applications, which raise concerns about their unpredictable and unverifiable nature. This skepticism hinders the transition from information support to decision support. This presentation will explore neurosymbolic approaches that combine neural networks with symbolic control and verification mechanisms. These approaches aim to unlock AI’s full potential by enhancing information analysis and decision-making support for healthcare assistance.